Mazda engaged in vegetable-based plastic project

Ongoing percentage of biodegradable materials used for car parts

As it occurred for bio-fuels, the car industry is starting to look at bio-plastics, that is plastic materials derived from vegetable matter. They have the advantage of being biodegradable, harmless, recyclable and they do not have to be burnt down.

Indeed, their not being derived from petroleum causes them to contribute to the reduction of pollution, which is quite a benefit for the environment. At a time, like ours, marked by a food crisis, though, bio-plastics lend themselves to the same criticisms as the ones for bio-fuels: they reduce the worldwide availability of food stock, mainly corn.

Just for this reason, in cooperation with Hiroshima University, Mazda Motor Corporation has started a research project called Mazda Bioplastic Project which aims at producing polypropylene out of non-food cellulosic biomass and applying it to the automotive industry.

The project will focus on designing a manufacturing process that first enables the cellulosic biomass derived from waste materials (e.g. wood shavings) to be properly converted into ethanol, which, thanks to the right mixture of ethylene and propylene, can then be turned into durable, crash-proof and heat-resistant plastic material fit for making car components such as bumpers and instrument panels.

It is not the first time that Mazda has engaged in bio-plastic research: late last year at the Tokyo Auto Show it exhibited the Premacy Hydrogen RE Hybrid where some of its parts were made of a highly heat-resistant bio-plastic and whose seats were upholstered with a 100% plant-sourced biofabric.