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00:07 Durable and easy to process into any kind of product,
00:14 plastic has become an essential part of modern life.
00:21 The problem is disposal.
00:25 Each year the world discards 300 million tons of plastic.
00:30 That's twice as much as 20 years ago.
00:36 Despite progress with recycling, nearly 80 percent still goes to landfill or is
00:40 dumped in the ocean.
00:44 Plastic floating in the sea degrades into micro particles that are hazardous
00:48 for marine life.
00:50 Entering the food chain, it may pose a threat to human health too.
00:57 Looking for ways to help solve the issue,
01:00 this chemicals company developed a groundbreaking new kind of plastic.
01:06 This is a kind of bioplastic that's completely biodegradable in soil and
01:11 seawater.
01:14 What's unique about it
01:15 is that it's made with a microbe that already exists in nature.
01:21 To put it simply, these microbes eat oil
01:24 and store it in their bodies as an energy source.
01:28 It's similar to the way our bodies store fat.
01:33 Feeding plant oils to the microbes causes them to produce a special kind of
01:37 polymer.
01:39 Polymers are the raw materials of all plastics.
01:46 This polymer can be used to manufacture a wide range of products.
01:52 If these products end up in the ocean, because they were originally made by
01:56 microbes as a nutrient source,
01:58 they're also edible by other microbes in the sea.
02:02 In the end, the plastic breaks down into water and carbon dioxide.
02:06 These are the effects of seawater on a straw made from this material.
02:13 It returns to nature in about six months.
02:19 Development began about thirty years earlier.
02:22 At first, the microbes produced only very small amounts of polymer,
02:26 not enough for practical use.
02:30 It took many years,
02:32 but eventually they increased the microbes' output enough to mass-produce the polymer.
02:38 The microbes we had developed now had the capacity to be one hundred times
02:42 more productive than microbes found in nature.
02:46 They had found a way to manufacture bioplastics that would completely
02:49 break down in seawater.
02:52 The first products made with this bioplastic include drinking straws
02:56 and containers for cosmetics.
03:03 Other kinds of bioplastics are inspiring products that were never possible before.
03:10 This bioplastic, made from starches like corn,
03:13 can withstand temperatures of one hundred and forty degrees Celsius.
03:20 This special quality inspired a metal mold manufacturer to create a new product.
03:26 They developed a set of tableware for infants.
03:30 This material doesn't harm health or the environment.
03:34 That's two ways it's ensuring a safe future for children.
03:39 This bioplastic has one problem.
03:41 It's difficult to form into complex shapes.
03:45 But the company's advanced molding technologies provided a solution.
03:53 It let them make bowls just the right depth for baby food,
03:57 with infant-friendly handles.
04:01 And they're microwave safe, too.
04:04 It's the first product of its kind anywhere in the world.
04:08 Overseas firms are showing great interest, especially in Europe.
04:14 If this technology and products like this become adopted worldwide,
04:18 I think it will make an enormous contribution to the global environment.
04:24 Our world faces tremendous environmental issues.
04:27 But Japanese technology is continuously coming up with ideas to ensure our global future.
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