About 4 billion pounds of chicken feathers are generated by the poultry industry each year. Researchers at USDA-Agricultural Research Service and the Horticultural Research Institute have been collaborating on a project to formulate growing containers using feathers. The containers, which contain no petroleum components, would degrade over a variable amount of time from one to five years.
ARS scientists have developed feather fiber which has numerous uses including air and water filtration and as a component of feather-derived plastic, which has properties similar to commercial polyethylene and polypropylene. The goal of the ARS and HRI researchers is to develop biodegradable keratin-based resins that can be used by container manufacturers to produce sustainable alternatives to petroleum-based growing containers. The scientists are also conducting biodegradability and composting trials to meet ASTM standards for bioplastics.
In October, HRI filed a joint HRI/USDA-ARS patent application in support of their collaborative research efforts to develop degradable plastics resins. The Biodegradable Products from Poultry Feathers and Methods of Preparation Thereof patent is based on research done by HRI and USDA-ARS scientists. Preliminary discussions are underway with interested plastic resin compounders to license the keratin-based formulations.
A commercial production run of 300-500 1-gallon containers is planned for January 2010. The containers will be distributed for evaluation to cooperating nursery and greenhouse growers, who are members of American Nursery & Landscape Association/HRI, and to three USDA-ARS research facilities.