Edible Bale Wrap Could Solve A Huge Waste Problem
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An invention by three PhD students at London’s Imperial College may go a long way toward solving the problem of dealing with the millions of pounds of plastic bale wrap that’s discarded annually around the world. Nick Aristidou, Will Joyce and Stelios Chatzimichail came up with an edible bale wrap they call BioNet that cattle can eat right along with their forage.
Joyce, who grew up on a beef farm in Rutland, England, says the idea of the edible wrap came to him after having to deal with a large stack of bale wrap plastic on his parent’s farm. He and his classmates started working on an edible biopolymer as part of a PhD project. They’ve eaten the product themselves, fed it to local animals, applied for a patent, and are currently planning official testing in several countries before bringing the product to market.
Ingredients used to produce the clear wrap are proprietary, but cattle seem to like the taste. The group says their invention enhances the digestive process for ruminants while reducing the output of methane gas.
“The end goal is to have every livestock farmer use the product, but that’s a few years off,” says Aristidou. Their development plans in the meantime include meeting with farmers to find out what nutrients or probiotics could be included in the material, tailoring the product to cattle and sheep, locating small scale production facilities, and eventually expanding to large scale production.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Will Joyce, 17a High Street, Morcott, Oakham, Rutland, United Kingdom LE15 9DN.
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Edible Bale Wrap Could Solve A Huge Waste Problem BALE HANDLING An invention by three PhD students at London’s Imperial College may go a long way toward solving the problem of dealing with the millions of pounds of plastic bale wrap that’s discarded annually around the world Nick Aristidou Will Joyce and Stelios Chatzimichail came up with an edible bale wrap they call BioNet that cattle can eat right along with their forage Joyce who grew up on a beef farm in Rutland England says the idea of the edible wrap came to him after having to deal with a large stack of bale wrap plastic on his parent’s farm He and his classmates started working on an edible biopolymer as part of a PhD project They’ve eaten the product themselves fed it to local animals applied for a patent and are currently planning official testing in several countries before bringing the product to market Ingredients used to produce the clear wrap are proprietary but cattle seem to like the taste The group says their invention enhances the digestive process for ruminants while reducing the output of methane gas “The end goal is to have every livestock farmer use the product but that’s a few years off ” says Aristidou Their development plans in the meantime include meeting with farmers to find out what nutrients or probiotics could be included in the material tailoring the product to cattle and sheep locating small scale production facilities and eventually expanding to large scale production Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Will Joyce 17a High Street Morcott Oakham Rutland United Kingdom LE15 9DN
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