As the United States seeks solutions to the growing problem of plastic pollution, one scientist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service is developing a new approach that may help. Atanu Biswas, research chemist at the USDA Agricultural Research Service's National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research in Peoria, Illinois, has spent much of his career researching ways to convert agricultural waste products into bioplastics. Bioplastics, as the name suggests, use biobased materials as the source material, instead of the petrochemical precursors that make up conventional plastics.
No more crying over spilled milk
Atanu Biswas, research chemist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service's National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research in Peoria, Illinois, inspects a piece of bioplastic in his lab.