Researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture have been developing strategies to improve sustainability of plastics, recognizing that the economic drivers that motivate design decisions produce significantly different outcomes. If the driver is to add value to agricultural products, manufacturing new plastics from biobased feedstocks is the solution, as will be discussed with examples. If the motivator is to reduce greenhouse gases or divert waste from landfills, then different technologies result, with biodegradable, compostable plastics pursued. If recycling is the goal, then new plastics designed for facile recovery and reuse are required, recognizing that infrastructure development must match these polymer-design decisions. Results will be presented from variable technologies, including description of torrefaction whereby almond shells are heat-treatment to 200-300<sup>o</sup>C in limited oxygen to create “torrefied” fibrils and nanoparticles.  Torrefied shells (TAS), when used as a partial replacement for petroleum-derived carbon black fillers in rubber formulations, altered thermomechanical properties (curing time, dynamic modulus, and tensile strength), while TAS applied to recycled polypropylene composites improved heat stability (the heat deflection temperature) by as much as 10 <sup>o</sup>C, thus improving marketability. In another example, under-utilized, ag-derived biomass sources are converted to polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), a commodity bioplastic with significant market potential, via methanotrophic microbes.

Polymers and agriculture: Drivers toward sustainable development of materials

Fall 2022 abstracts, posters, and presentations will launch in mid-September.

ACS Fall 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.