Rolling out a new plastic

Automobile manufacturers are coming under increasing pressure to build cars that won't just rust away in junkyards once they've reached the end of the road. That means recycling most metal parts. But plastic components don't recycle all that well. And today's biodegradable plastics are too weak to be of much use for most car parts. Now, researchers in Britain may have come up with a solution: Miscanthus, a cane plant that's informally known as elephant grass. Scientists at the University of Warwick's Warwick Manufacturing Group are collaborating on the project with the company Biomass Industrial Crops Limited (Bical), which was founded to explore Miscanthus' industrial potential by a group of farmers who grow it. It's already used for animal bedding and thatching. Warwick's researchers have found that short lengths of elephant grass used as a filler will stiffen and strengthen biodegradable plastics. Moreover, there's no worry that the plastic will start to degrade while the vehicle remains in use. "It has to be composted," explains Nick Tucker, an expert in composite manufacturing at Warwick, who's heading the research. Miscanthus has other properties that should endear it to environmentalists. It's a hardy perennial which requires very little-if anypesticides or fertilizers.

"The auto industry likes this idea a lot," says Tucker. But to make it worthwhile, automakers need a plastic that could be used in all applications, because the cost of stripping out some plastics before shredding the rest would be too costly. That's potentially doable, Tucker says, but will require more experimenting.

Copyright American Society for Engineering Education Nov 2001
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