Bio-based polymers transformed into fertilizers

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Researchers in Japan have chemically recycled bioplastics into nitrogen-rich fertilizer in a process described as ‘facile and environmentally friendly’.

The advance from the Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech) was led by assistant professor Daisuke Aoki and professor Hideyuki Otsuka and is claimed to pave the way towards sustainable circular systems that address plastic pollution, petrochemical resource depletion, and world hunger. The team’s findings have been published in Green Chemistry.

For their study, the team focused on PIC (poly (isosorbide carbonate)), a type of bio-based polycarbonate produced using a non-toxic material derived from glucose called isosorbide (ISB) as a monomer. The carbonate links that join the ISB units can be severed using ammonia (NH3) in a process called ‘ammonolysis’. The process produces urea, a nitrogen-rich molecule that is widely used as a fertilizer. According to Tokyo Tech, few studies on polymer degradation have focused on the potential uses of all the degradation products instead of only the monomers.

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