Chicken feathers will replace plastic

A new patent developed by the USDA's Agricultural Research Service Laboratories can process clean chicken powder into textile fabrics, containers, plastic films, plastic bags, and other special products made of plastic.

Today, the annual output of chicken feathers can reach 1.1 billion kg, and is still increasing year by year. Some chicken feathers are used as feed and are treated more as garbage. With the growing prevalence of bird flu, the development of chicken feed is threatened and scientists are looking for ways to use chicken feathers.

The new processing technology can make full use of the main component of chicken feathers - keratin. By rearranging the molecular structure of keratin it is possible to produce fiber fabrics of arbitrary length and width, plastics of arbitrary shapes and plastic films. Perhaps sufficient chicken feathers can reduce manufacturers’ reliance on petroleum products because products such as polyester, polyethylene, and polypropylene are also rising as oil prices rise.

This new material is very strong, lightweight and biodegradable, with no trace of white pollution on the environment. Last summer, scientists tested agricultural plastic film made of chicken feathers. The results showed that when the crop grows tall, the plastic film made of traditional plastic has to be opened, which requires labor. The chicken mulch will naturally degrade and become nitrogen that the plant can absorb. Farmers can leave the mulch to the next planting season. When they plant new crops again, these mulches become nitrogenous and fertile.

Information Source: Plastic