The future of car production is going green. But how green? A research group based in Poland believes that the future of car parts could be made of wood pulp, bioplastics, and plant chemicals. Turning recyclers into composters and exciting any repairer with a green thumb.
According to Selena, the Polish company with a green vision, they are a provider to “professional contractors and DIY users with a wide array of construction chemicals.” Their newest chemical? One made from plants that are not used in the human food chain to create eco-friendly plastics
“We want to lower the carbon footprint by using bio-based sources and by trying to develop lighter components for the cars,” reported Wojciech Komala, research and development director of Selena.
But what would that mean for recyclers? According to Columbia University, the plastics can be broken down the same way typically plastics would, except this time, they wouldn’t be producing carbon dioxide gas.
However, if recyclers were more interested in composting the plastics instead, experts say that’s a whole separate process.
“It needs to be properly managed and routed to specialized industrial composting or recycling facilities,” reported science magazine UnDark. “Under the right circumstances, microbes can turn the material into carbon dioxide and water within a couple of weeks.”
So while it is a much trickier, and also more expensive process, it is still significantly greener than the current process of auto production and recycling.
