Friday JohnKu- AKA – TGIF – Fri-Yay/Good News

~ John W. Howell

 

Today’s good news story comes from Twisted Sifter and was sent to me by Noelle Granger.

A New Japanese Invention Called Transparent Paperboard Could Mean Single Use Plastic Waste Will Be A Thing Of The Past

by Kyra Piperides

Anyone who has had their heart broken by images of dolphins or sea turtles struggling or even dying because they got tangled up in plastic waste will know exactly why single-use plastics are hated.

Not only are these materials wasteful, they are also highly polluting and difficult to dispose of. If it ever does break down, it can take hundreds or even thousands of years, after which time microplastics still remain.

And what’s worse is the sheer volume of plastic that isn’t properly disposed of, meaning that it often drifts out in our waterways and ends up in our oceans.

It’s no wonder that 99% of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is comprised of plastic.

Plastic waste washed up on a beach

Plenty of plastic alternatives have been rolled out, and that’s definitely a good thing.

From paper and cardboard packaging replacing the plastic that has proliferated our stores for decades, to refill stores selling loose items with the ability to fill your own containers, it’s great to see manufacturers and retailers doing their bit to help our planet and its valuable, vulnerable ecosystems.

But there are still some situations in which plastic is needed, for example where liquids are involved. And thus, researchers in Japan have been working on creating viable biodegradable alternatives to plastic in order to fill this gap in the market.

And according to their paper, which has been recently published in the journal Science Advances, they’ve had a breakthrough.

The process of making tPB

Isobe et al/Science Advances

When it came to the creation of their replacement plastic product, the team were driven by the acknowledgement that even with the best intentions, some waste items are still likely to end up in our oceans. As such, they explain in their paper, they created a material suitable for this:

“To mitigate marine pollution from single-use plastics, it is crucial to transition to next-generation commodity materials that are derived from biomass and are recyclable and marine biodegradable even at abyssal depths in case of the accidental release to the ocean.”

Thus the product that they have created – known as transparent paperboard (tPB) – has been proven to fully disintegrate even in the most challenging of aquatic conditions in under a year.

But if this is the case, would it still be effective in holding liquids? Well, as the researchers explain, the transparent paperboard (which, like paper, is made of cellulose from plants) is capable of carrying boiling water for hours without leaking:

“The tPB is made entirely of pristine cellulose and compositionally identical to paper. A cup-shaped tPB can hold just-boiled water without an internal film coating because of its high wet tensile properties and anisotropic thermal properties.”

And with a thin coating, this transparent material can hold all kinds of liquids for even longer.

Recycled tPB showing its transparency declining

Isobe et al/Science Advances

The real cherry on top of their sustainable product is the fact that the product not only breaks down into harmless molecules in water, but that it is fully recyclable too:

“The spent tPB is material recyclable in a closed system, where all chemicals and water are also recyclable. Furthermore, the marine biodegradability of tPB across shallow to abyssal depths is confirmed by on-site degradation tests and metagenomic analyses. Hence, tPB is expected to serve as a key fully circular commodity material in sustainable societies of the future.”

There is one small downside to the recycling of tPB, and that is that the recycled material is a little less transparent that its predecessor.

But in a world in which our climate and all of our most vital ecosystems are at risk, is fully clear packaging really a priority?

Thanks to the hard work of this team, for whom further testing is underway, we might be a whole lot closer to being free from single-use plastics forever.

The good news in this story is that there is more work being done to eliminate single use plastics. Today’s John Ku looks forward to the day when single use plastics are a thing of the past. I hope you have a beautiful weekend.

Single Use by John W. Howell ©2025

Imagine the sea,

With no plastic any where . . .

Healthy is the norm.

 

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Published by John W. Howell

I have been working in business for over forty years and now have the time to work in special areas of interest. My passion has always been to create compelling stories of fiction. I have authored six novels and am working on my Seventh. The first novel is still in manuscript form and being utilized as a door stop in the laundry room. The second is a contemporary fiction novel of 89,000 words and is complete and I am currently seeking a publisher. I also write poetry but have not had the guts to share any with anyone. The one time I read a piece to a person their only comment was, “it doesn’t rhyme.” I will continue to write and hopefully my blog, Fiction Favorites at www.johnwhowell.com will provide some entertainment and an interesting thought or two. I live in the Austin area with my wife Molly and an assortment of loving pets.

81 thoughts on “Friday JohnKu- AKA – TGIF – Fri-Yay/Good News”

        1. Yes, they should. In a recent report, Ocean Conservancy claims that China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam are spewing out as much as 60 percent of the plastic waste that enters the world’s seas.

          Liked by 1 person

  12. What an incredible development! Very hopeful. Thank you for this post, John. Like you, I “imagine the sea, with no plastic anywhere…” and dream of a healthy world. 🌞

    Liked by 1 person

  19. You’ve been finding a lot of great information on protecting the environment and reducing waste, John. This is another good one.

    Liked by 1 person

  25. I’m imagining!

    It’s another step in the right direction. Yay!

    The changes can’t come fast enough. We’ve already done enough damage that it will last … in terms of micro plastics, forever.

    I used to buy this Chinese candy – White Rabbit

    They were like a white caramel. They came wrapped in rice paper. You could just eat the paper if you didn’t want to unwrap it. Sometimes I’d let the paper melt on my tongue on its own.

    I’ve often wondered why edible wrappings weren’t used for many products.

    ♳X ♴X

    Liked by 1 person

  29. Sounds like a dream product but what does it break down into, I wonder, and are there any PFAS or polyvinyl alcohol used in the processing. Thanks for sharing this, John.

    Liked by 1 person

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