Turning prawn shells into plastic

Angelina Arora with her plastic made from prawn shells (photo by L. Kennerley)

Having already worked with degradable plastics, chemistry student Angelina Arora from Sydney Girls High School, Australia, experimented with discarded seafood wastes she collected from a fish and chip shop. She came up with a strong, light, biodegradable plastic.

This is using a plentiful, renewable source of waste organic material to make biodegradable plastic, instead of using fossil fuels. The plastic could be a sustainable form of shopping bags and possibly other plastics that may not harm the environment by hopefully being totally biodegradable.

Source: Turning prawns into plastic: schoolgirl Angelina Arora fights science stereotypes. By Liam Mannix, The Sydney Morning Herald, 9 Dec 2017.
Postscript: Indian-origin student wins Australia's top Science and Engineering Award. SBS Your Language, March 8, 2018.