Hard plastic made from bamboo is as strong and durable as conventional plastics for uses such as household appliances and car interiors, but is also recyclable and biodegrades easily in soil.
Plastics derived from biological matter, or bioplastics, are increasingly popular, but they still only make up around half a per cent of the more than 400 million tonnes of plastics produced each year. This is, in part, because bioplastics lack the mechanical strength of many oil-based plastics and also can’t be easily used in common manufacturing processes.
Now, Dawei Zhao at Shenyang University of Chemical Technology in China and his colleagues have developed a way to produce plastic from cellulose derived from bamboo, which can replicate or surpass the properties of many widely used plastics.
Hard plastic made from bamboo is as strong and durable as conventional plastics for uses such as household appliances and car interiors, but also recyclable and biodegrades easily in soil. https://t.co/POqQscIGEe
— New Scientist (@newscientist) October 7, 2025