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Corn-based plastics have a future in refrigeration

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Global appliance provider Electolux recently unveiled a refrigerator prototype that replaces conventional plastics with bioplastic in all of its visible parts. The company is the latest to replace oil-based plastics with plastic made from renewable sources like corn.

The emergence of bioplastics has become an encouraging trend for the nation’s corn farmers. Companies like Electrolux have explored incorporating bioplastics into their products for their environmental benefit. The refrigerator prototype has 80-percent lower CO2 equivalent emissions compared to the conventional plastic used in current fridges.

Corn is making an impact in the world of plastics locally as well.

The Minnesota Corn Growers Association has invested in research through the University of Minnesota’s Center for Sustainable Polymers that uses sources like corn to discover new processes toward production of established plastics, new polymers that could become sustainable plastics of the future, as well as methods to toughen current plastics already in the marketplace. To toughen plastics, the process being developed is working to disperse a diblock copolymer into PLA plastic to improve its ability to maintain its composition under adverse conditions.

Read more about the Electrolux refrigerator prototype here.

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