FEATURE STORY
WGCIT RESIDENT Biodegradable Plastics Within Reach
By Tim Linden A handful of years ago, Yelena Kann read an interesting research paper on a mining waste product that found a home in agriculture as a soil amendment. The paper published the composition of the material and Kann thought it might have applicability in degrading plastic. By that time, she had spent three decades in the industrial sector working on the durability of polymers. In analyzing the properties of this specific waste product, she thought it might work to add it to polymers to create biodegradable plastic. “No one had tried doing this,” she said, as she set out to do just that. Working in her garage in 2017, she was excited by what she discovered. By early 2018, Kann had filed a patent application for the use of this material in the extrusion
process used to turn polymers into plastic. By the middle of 2019, Kann and co-founder Kristin Taylor, who is also a veteran in the polymers industry, had launched Radical Plastics in Beverly, Mass. Taylor serves as CEO while Kann is the chief technology officer. The pair entered their discovery into a couple of accelerator competitions and won seed money to start the process of building a company. They soon attracted venture capital and have since built a state- of-the-art lab to perfect the invention, trial it and commercialize it. The problem of non-biodegradable plastics is well publicized and perfectly articulated on the Radical Plastics website. “Plastics are one of the most important inventions of the last century. They’re strong, lightweight, cost-effective materials that have transformed our lives. That’s why plastics is a $650 billion industry. But plastics have a problem. They don’t go away. In fact, around 80 percent of all the plastics ever made are still here. We produce around 380 million tons of plastic each year and only around four percent of that is being recycled.” Radical Plastics is initially focusing its effort on developing biodegradable mulch film. Kann explained that the technology involves blending conventional plastics with the company’s proprietary, naturally occurring catalyst. When properly compounded, the catalyst has the ability to make the mulch film biodegradable in the natural environment. The free radical catalyst converts the plastic into a material that microbes recognize as food. This allows them to metabolize the material turning it into biomass, CO 2 and water. The degraded plastic leaves no residue, no toxic substances and no microplastics. “We are still testing,” Kann said, noting that they are working on ways to alter the speed of the degradation. In some
instances, faster is better. But there are other mulch plastics in which a longer usable life is desired and, in that case, slower degradation might be best. Radical Plastics has trialed the material and expects a soft launch in early 2023. In the meantime, Kann said the key to success is interacting with farmers to find out their needs. She notes the company has done a very good job on the technology side developing a product that she calls a “game changer.” Now they need to marry the product with the need. Radical Plastics has joined the Western Growers Center for Innovation and Technology and hired Robert Baillargeon to be the main contact between the company’s tech team and the growers. “We do have two patents that have been issued, but we need to talk to farmers,” said Kann. “We need to know how farmers use the mulch film. What should be its thickness and width? Should it be black or would other colors be better? How about transparent film? We have tons of questions we need answered. I am not
Peter Steeves, plastics engineer, and Sean Flynn, our lab technician
Yelena Kann at recent conference in France
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JULY | AUGUST 2022
Western Grower & Shipper | www.wga.com
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