A new biodegradable packing foam developed at UBC not only potentially addresses the world's plastic pollution crisis but also serves as an equal and true partnership example of working with First Nations.
UBC professor Dr. Feng Jiang holding samples of the biodegradable foam:. Credit: Lou Bosshart/UBC The team came together to turn a timely research idea into reality while helping solve a critical community need at the same time. The collaboration included UBC researchers Dr. Feng Jiang and postdoctoral fellow Dr. Yeling Zhu, Reg Ogen and Joe Wong, president and CEO and vice president respectively of Wet'suwet'en First Nation's Yinka Dene Economic Development Limited Partnership, and the office of the Chief Forester in the Ministry of Forests. Transforming waste into pollutant-free innovation Dr. Jiang, an assistant professor in the UBC faculty of forestry and the Canada Research Chair in Sustainable Functional Biomaterials, started developing a "biofoam" many years ago both to find new uses for wood waste and reduce pollution from packaging foam. "Styrofoam waste fills up to 30 percent of global landfills and can take more than 500 years to break down. Our biofoam breaks down in the soil in a couple of weeks, requires little heat and few chemicals to make, and can be used as substitute for packaging foams, packing peanuts and even thermal insulation boards," says Dr. Jiang. He adds that the project also helps repurpose wood waste that is often left behind after trees are harvested. "Less than 50 percent of harvested trees are used in the wood industries—the rest is left behind in the forest, serving as potential…