2007-09-28 12:43:27 · 2 answers · asked by thundercheerchick6793 2 in Education & Reference ➔ Homework Help
It's tricky to make plastics from natural materials. The vast majority of plastics are made from ethylene. Ethylene is made by fruit bearing plants as a hormone that makes the fruit ripen. The problem is that it's not made in large amounts. Currently, the major source for ethylene is crude oil. There may be some natural products that could be used for plastics but molecules that are easy to polymerize (make into a long chain; it's how plastics are made) tend to be small and would escape from the plant as a gas. So I guess the simple answer to your question is no. The complex answer is yes, but with several steps involved. As such, there is no natural material that can immediately be made into a plastic.
2007-09-28 12:54:49 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
YES, plastics were ORIGINALLY made from corn-oils... before petroleum products were so plentiful.
http://www.smithsonianmagazine.com/issues/2006/august/pla.php
http://farmindustrynews.com/mag/farming_plastic_corn/index.html
2007-09-28 19:52:03 · answer #2 · answered by mariner31 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋