#92-BioEconomy 2.0 with Darrel Fry

Plastics in the ocean, plastics in the soil, non-renewable petrochemical products are found littered across the globe. These products are toxic to the environment and add to the already problematic human carbon footprint. What if we can make plastics from a sustainable and renewable resource? What if it could be cost-effective? What if those products could be carbon neutral, or even carbon negative? What is this miracle product? WOOD baby!! Wood PLASTICS and wood CARBON FIBER exist and are knocking on the door of opportunity.

Resources

Advanced BioCarbon 3D

Sponsors

West Fraser

GreenLink Forestry Inc.

Damaged Timber

Quotes

31.18 - 31.21: “Don’t make it, keep it native.”

54.51 - 54.54: “You believe the things that you think over and over.”

Takeaways

Bioplastics (05.16)

To Darrel, sustainability means looking at all aspects of the lifecycle from a 40,000-foot view. His work involves utilizing hybrid poplar trees to produce plastic, a tool for addressing environmental issues. The trees filter landfill leaching, remediating pollution and protecting the soil, while biomass is used for advanced materials such as plastic. The products his company makes are entirely sustainable, and he finds that now is the right time for his products to take root.

Sourcing feedstock (10.20)

Darrel explains that bioplastics have sugar as the base, which is quickly biodegradable, so good for use in plastic bags. A high-performing plastic needs other plant materials as well added to it to mimic the rigidity or heat/moisture resistance seen in plants. However, with the planet struggling to feed all humans, using space to grow plants for plastic is not ideal. Trees are a good source of sugar, don’t require chemical fertilizers, and can grow on the side of mountains!

Tree talk (12.49)

Lignin and cellulose are important plant components which determine the quality of plastics produced from them. Wood makes a great source since it contains both and comes from a renewable resource. Darrel acknowledges that reforestation efforts need to be strengthened and waste needs to be reduced. His company plants trees on landfill sites, serving both remediation and feedstock purposes. 

Materials and nature (19.48)

Darrel sees potential in creating an inventory of hybrid trees to plan manufacturing processes. His company makes many different products from wood - plastics and carbon fibre - replacing petrochemical legacy material with biomass material, so the applications are broad. They separate the materials of the tree and then put them back together to mimic how nature made strong trees, but with a specific end use in mind, creating revolutionary new-age products.

A bioplastic world (24.11)

Darrel highlights the difficulty of extracting plant materials and deconstructing biomass to utilize it to its full potential. He makes products using biomimicry, replicating the wonderful properties of trees. With strong molecular chains and chemical/heat resistance, plastics that are created from biomass are superior. His company’s vision is to create high-performing, high-value bioplastics to be used at an industrial level as well.

Biodegradable = in harmony with life (28.32)

Darrel reveals that the key to making something biodegradable is to ensure that earth microbes can recognize it and access it so they can break them down into compounds that enrich the soil. The key is to not chemically modify natural materials, even if separating and recombining them, to ensure they stay biodegradable. Depending on the use, we may not want some materials to biodegrade quickly, but we would still want them to not be harmful when they do.

Carbon footprints (34.45)

Darrel calls his products carbon-negative since they pre-break down the tree components for the microbes to later break down further in the soil. He sees many applications to bioplastics which will collectively help in lowering carbon emissions. In traditional manufacturing, besides the ecological impact of the products themselves, the processes of material extraction and long-distance transportation add to their carbon footprint.

Competing with plastic (37.33)

Darrel feels excited about the ability of technology to generate advanced materials in a local area using local resources. Localizing manufacturing and sequestering carbon in the process is how he believes we can address climate change. Regular, cheap plastics come from fracking, which bioplastics can’t compete with on a price scale. However, when you compare refining costs, theirs is a quarter of the price of the industry.

The future of plastic (41.51)

Darrel believes bioplastics have the potential to be much better performing than regular plastics, alongside being more sustainable. If bioplastics were produced at the same scale, they could definitely compete with plastic. He looks at blockchain technologies as a way to create transparency in manufacturing, to check if a product is sustainably made throughout its lifecycle. He is happy with the government support and funding of bioplastics.

A sustainable economy (47.40)

Darrel addresses the complexity of single-use products. Plastics either end up in a landfill or get burned. However, government policies, politicians and technology are all supporting the growth of the bioplastics industry, and every manufacturer can switch to bioplastics. Helping unsustainable industries seamlessly transition the jobs of their skilled and passionate people to sustainable ones will play a part in creating an ecologically sound future.

Creating the future (53.56)

Darrel sees bioplastics starting to become mainstream and public appetite for it increasing. He believes his company is at a point where they can demonstrate that at a level that the industry will respect. Technology is making so much possible that we only need to think about the future we want and it can be created. Batteries, solar panels, and cars can all be made with carbon fibre to be better performing.

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