“A growing movement against plastic straws is playing out in Chicago, and a South Side straw factory urgently seeking an environmentally friendly alternative.”
Robert Channick reporting for Chicago Tribune:
Best Diamond is working with Smart Plastic Technologies, an 8-year-old Knoxville, Tenn., company with a north suburban Wheeling facility that produces an additive to make plastic biodegradable. Approved by the Food and Drug Administration, the bioassimilation additive will make a plastic straw biodegrade within 18 months, said Tim Murtaugh, CEO of Smart Plastic. “It causes plastic to biodegrade like paper,” Murtaugh said. “The stuff works.”
Robert Channick reporting for Chicago Tribune:
Best Diamond is working with Smart Plastic Technologies, an 8-year-old Knoxville, Tenn., company with a north suburban Wheeling facility that produces an additive to make plastic biodegradable. Approved by the Food and Drug Administration, the bioassimilation additive will make a plastic straw biodegrade within 18 months, said Tim Murtaugh, CEO of Smart Plastic. “It causes plastic to biodegrade like paper,” Murtaugh said. “The stuff works.”
Trellis’s annual list goes beyond a simple shoutout. Selected startups get profiled on Trellis.net, pitch in webinars to climate executives and investors, and compete for Startup of the Year at Trellis Impact 26 in San Francisco.
The global disconnect around plastic end-of-life isn’t a failure of awareness. It’s a failure of system design.
