China Tongcheng Tianbai Plastic Co.,Ltd.

Scientists have described a key step toward using billions of pounds of waste chicken feathers to produce strong, lightweight plastics. The method was revealed at the National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society.

“Others have tried to develop thermoplastics from feathers,” said Yiqi Yang, who reported on the research. “But none of them perform well when wet. Using this technique, we believe we’re the first to demonstrate that we can make chicken-feather-based thermoplastics stable in water while still maintaining strong mechanical properties.”

Yang pointed out that because of concerns about petroleum supplies, prices and sustainability, dozens of scientific teams are working to find alternative ingredients. One major goal is to use agricultural waste and other renewable resources to make bioplastics that have an additional advantage of being biodegradable once discarded into the environment.

“We are trying to develop plastics from renewable resources to replace those derived from petroleum products,” said Yang, who is an authority on biomaterials and bio-fibers in the Institute of Agriculture & Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. “Utilizing current wastes as alternative sources for materials is one of the best approaches toward a more sustainable and more environmentally responsible society.”

Yang explained that chicken feathers are made mainly of keratin, a tough protein also found in hair, hoofs, horns, and wool that can lend strength and durability to plastics.