# Can you produce plastic from non-petroleum materials?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-produce-plastic-from-non-petroleum-materials/322518>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 20, 2005, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-produce-plastic-from-non-petroleum-materials/322518 "2005-09-20T12:36:50Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\
**Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-produce-plastic-from-non-petroleum-materials/322518/1 "2005-09-20T12:36:50Z")

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Even if we find an energy replacement for oil, aren’t all plastics and most artificial chemicals in our lives made from oil?

So, what do we do about those? Have they found non-petroleum methods of making plastic and the other stuff we use today?

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**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\
**Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-produce-plastic-from-non-petroleum-materials/322518/2 "2005-09-20T13:03:28Z")

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The fist polymers were made from plant materials, not petroleum – natural latex rubber and celluloid.

Polymeric sulfur (which was marketred as _Crystex_) has nothing to do with petroleum. Nor, I believe, do all the silicones that are made.  
But all those polycarbon polymers are easiest and cheapest to make with petroleum. I recall ages ago reading Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven advocating nuclear power in pasrt because we’d want all the petroleum, for petrochemicals, instead of burning.

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**Author:** ![Crandolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7cd45c/32.png) [@Crandolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crandolph)\
**Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-produce-plastic-from-non-petroleum-materials/322518/3 "2005-09-20T13:04:56Z")

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I remember once getting a sample of foam packing peanuts that were made of corn derivitives.

Aha … throw “corn” and “plastics” into a search engine, and you’ll get plenty of articles like [this one](http://www.matr.net/article-6726.html).

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**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\
**Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-produce-plastic-from-non-petroleum-materials/322518/4 "2005-09-20T13:13:03Z")

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They’ve apparently succeeded in producing a variety of corn that produces _non_ biodegradable plastic as well. Interesting stuff, but it seems to me it’d be pretty exopensive. And I wouldn’t want it cross0-breeding with my popcorn.