This sheet of nylon coated food can decompose faster than usual by hundreds of times

It can be said that the Earth is in the garbage crisis, when most countries fall into garbage overload - especially plastic garbage. Every year, people emit millions of tons of plastic waste, and many of them spill into the oceans.

There are many problems related to plastic waste. Most notably, the number of disposable plastic junk is increasing, and they need hundreds or even thousands of years to decompose. But most importantly, human life has become too dependent on plastic - as is the case for plastic cups and nylon wrap for food.

Even so, we still have hope. And the answer is this.

This wrap is made entirely of organic material.

Looks like a normal sheet of nylon, right? But that is the product of the Georgia Institute of Technology (USA). They created a new food wrap product , replacing the traditional plastic and nylon type.

The advantage of this type of coating is that it is made entirely of organic material - namely chitin (or chitin) - the main ingredient in the shells of crustaceans ; and cellulose fibers in wood. They will spray these components onto a layer of polylactic acid (PLA) , which is also produced from corn and cassava.

Constructed entirely from organic ingredients, of course, this type of coating has a much faster decomposition rate than traditional nylon.

In terms of functions, the team said their products are not only as effective as nylon, but some functions also appear superior.

"We compared it to PET (polyethylene terephthalate) - the most popular plastic on the market today," said J. Carson Meredith, the study author.

"Our materials give 67% lower oxygen permeability compared to PET, which means it can help food stay fresh longer."

According to Professor Meredith, he and his colleagues studied the crab's chitin material in another project, and realized it had the potential to grow into a food-covering membrane.

Chitin - chitin is the main ingredient in crab shells.

"We found that nano chitin fibers have a positive charge, while cellulose crystals have a negative charge. If combined, they can become a very tight coating on anything," Meredith said.

"Gas molecules are very difficult to penetrate the crystal structure, because they will have to destroy that structure," Meredith explained. "Ordinary plastic products like PET have inherent crystalline structures, so small gas molecules will slip through without much difficulty."

However, this is still an uncompleted product. Meredith said it still let the steam pass, so it was not publicly available.

But they are rapidly improving it, to provide the market with a more environmentally friendly and safe solution than traditional nylon wrap.