I have a good friend who is a dedicated deep-sea fisherman.

This is only a hobby, but his passion for being out on the open water is palpable.

Many a night, he’s told me unbelievable tales of the huge fish that he’s wrestled with for hours on end — from Tuna, Mahi-Mahi, and sometimes even sharks — fighting to assert his own dominance in the natural food chain.

He’s told me of the times that dolphins swam beside his boat, playing and chattering with the strange metal beast as they jumped in and out of the water.

However, he’s also told me the horror stories of the things that he finds floating in the water, miles away from the coastlines that your typical tourist sees or talks about.

Piles and piles of floating trash, sometimes the size of a small country…

And it’s not just a plastic bag here and some six-pack rings there, either. It’s stuff like old appliances, huge tires, scraps of metal, and oil barrels.

Even today, he told me of the inner tubes, boogie boards, and a huge 55-gallon plastic drum that he found floating in the water just this past weekend.

The plastic drum must have been there for months, he said, judging by the amount of flora and fauna that had grown over it.

Floating waste isn’t just a danger to passing boaters and fishermen — it’s completely endangering the delicate balance of our aquatic ecosystems.

If we continue to dump our plastic waste into the sea at the same pace, the ocean will contain more plastic than fish by 2050.

That sobering projection was presented to the World Economic Forum (WEF) by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation in 2016 in a report that has joined a growing list of studies highlighting the shameful impact that plastic waste has on marine environments.

Unless it has been burned, every piece of plastic ever produced still exists today.

In the ocean, wave action and UV exposure break plastic waste down into even smaller fragments classified as “microplastics” when they reach 5 mm or fewer.

These micro-fragments are often mistaken for food by marine animals and enter the food chain with humans at its apex.

A report released by the UN in 2016 highlights the dangers of the oceans’ plastic pollution and illuminates a warning that humans who consume plastic-contaminated fish could be exposed to a slew of potential health problems, including heightened joint inflammation and arthritis, poisoning, infertility, and even genetic disruption.

Creating new forms of bio-based and biodegradable plastics is imperative if we wish to keep our water sources clean and healthy for all life-forms.

Tackling new methods to effectively recycle and eliminate existing plastics is just as crucial.

Caterpillars + Plastic Bags = Antifreeze

A certain wriggly caterpillar may hold the key to the Earth’s plastic pollution problem.

The inch-long Galleria mellonella or “wax worm” can typically be found pestering beehives, munching away on the waxy, honey-drenched honeycombs.

Through a serendipitous discovery, the G. mellonella can also decompose polyethylene — a thin but tough plastic that’s mainly used in shopping bags and food packaging.

The discovery happened during an amateur beekeeping experience, said the study’s senior researcher, Federica Bertocchini — a research scientist at the Spanish National Research Council and the Institute of Biomedicine and Biotechnology of Cantabria.

Comically, this discovery was not made during an official study but after-hours as a hobby.

Bertocchini happened upon the wax caterpillars when cleaning out one of her beehives.

She states:

I removed the worms, and put them in a plastic bag while I cleaned the panels. After finishing, I went back to the room where I had left the worms, and I found that they were everywhere. They had escaped from the bag even though it had been closed.

Upon closer inspection, she noticed that the caterpillars had actually made holes in the bag before they escaped.

That’s when the study began.

When Bertocchini and her colleagues placed the caterpillars in polyethylene bags, holes appeared in the bags within an hour.

The caterpillars could degrade the plastic because it had chemical bonds that were similar to those found in beeswax, the researchers said.

One hundred wax worms are capable of biodegrading 92 mg. [0.003 oz.] of polyethylene in 12 hours, which Bertocchini says is really fast.

The researchers also discovered that the caterpillars could chemically transform the polyethylene into ethylene glycol, which is used as antifreeze and coolant.

It’s likely that the caterpillars produced an enzyme that degraded the plastic when they ate it, touched it, or when it came into contact with their cocoons.

The researchers hope to soon identify, isolate, and produce this enzyme on an industrial scale.

In doing this, we can begin to successfully eliminate this highly resistant material.

Every year, factories around the world produce about 88 million tons of polyethylene. A single bag can take anywhere between 100–400 years to decompose completely.

Fortunately, the G. mellonella caterpillar can be found all over the world, naturally converting slow-degrading polyethylene into a usable by-product instead of the typically used harsh chemical process.

It will be interesting to keep an eye on their progress to see when the caterpillar enzyme will be produced and brought to market as an eco-friendly recycling method.

Recycled Shoes

A famous shoemaker plans to enter the realm of green companies.

Adidas (OTC: ADDYY) plans to produce 1 million pairs of shoes throughout 2017 that are made largely out of ocean-salvaged plastics.

Early reports stated that 95% of the shoe’s upper material is 3-D printed from plastics that were dredged up near Maldives.

Along with the upcycled shoes, the company has also released a swimwear and apparel line with pieces that were all made from ocean plastics via a partnership with Parley for the Oceans. Parley is an organization founded in 2013 by Cyrill Gutsch that works to raise awareness for oceans while collaborating with brands to prevent further destruction.

Recently, GreenBiz had the following to say about Adidas:

Its leadership stance on turning ocean plastics into credible products could provide real brand differentiation for the shoe and apparel company.

Often when asked to name a few green companies, people frequently mention Toyota.

When asked why, the answer is always: “Because of the Prius.”

Upcycled shoes, swimwear, and apparel have the potential to do the same thing for Adidas.

If the company is willing to spend some real marketing dollars on these products to make them widely available to consumers, there’s a great chance that people will begin to see Adidas in the same light as Toyota as a green company.

This is basically a win across the board for Adidas. The company is helping to:

• Tackle a complicated and devastating problem.
• Address one of two key care-about markets.
• Enroll consumers into being a part of the solution via purchases.

And all while it’s building its brand. If executed well throughout the entire partnership, Adidas will become a circular economy example for others to follow.

Turning DNA Into Plastics

Scientists from the University of Bath have designed a new biodegradable plastic that won’t litter our oceans, waterways, and beaches for hundreds of years. This more sustainable material is made up of carbon dioxide and sugar found in DNA and can break down within weeks.

Researcher Antoine Buchard mentioned that this new type of plastic is a renewable alternative to fossil fuel base polymers, potentially inexpensive, and of course, won’t negatively contribute to growing pollution concerns.

The carbon dioxide and sugar-based plastics can easily be turned back into carbon dioxide and sugar with the help of enzymes in the soil once discarded.

And as an extra bonus, it requires little heat, pressure, or energy to create.

This new plastic can do more than just make drink containers.

It’s also biologically friendly, meaning that it’s safe for use in medical implants and other items that will interact with human body parts or even in creating artificial organs.

This plastic is not made from the typical sugar that you pour over your morning cereal — it’s composed of a sugar called thymidine present in DNA.

According to one of the polymer chemistry studies, sugars like this one are inexpensive and renewable because of their natural sources — origins that also make them structurally and chemically diverse.

Another research said that chemists are essentially going back to the beginning of plastic production science, starting from scratch to make new, sustainable plastics from more renewable ingredients.

It’s still in its early days, but the future looks promising.

The Bottom Line

Companies’ movement into the eco-friendly plastics sector is still relatively new.

There are many different avenues and offshoots of new clean and green plastics: bio-based, biodegradable, recycling, and upcycling.

There are plenty of companies and universities that are investing big dollars into the research and development of the different avenues of this sector.

It will be interesting to see what’s finally brought to market — all for the greater cause.

Those frozen coffee cups, shopping bags, or even facial cleansers with scrubbing beads in them may seem insignificant, but they add up fast.

It’s imperative that we all start to do our part to keep our oceans clean.

That’s all for now.

Until next time,

John Peterson
Pro Trader Today