Gelatine Bioplastic

The bioplastic was developed during Carolina Puppe’s final bachelor’s degree project in 2017.

The process aimed to create a material which is less impactful to the environment, zero waste, circular and fully recyclable. In the project ‘Into the skin, into the soul’, she developed bioplastic and ephemeral jewellery. With the challenge of creating an object that is an ephemeral experience and also generates the least environmental impact possible, bioplastic jewellery was a way to reconquer the body as the main interface of experience in the world. It is made of a biodegradable material she developed, offering a solution for the issue of conventional plastics.

This bioplastic was developed based on other biomaterials scientific research and open source research shared on the internet but adapted to the tools and materials to which the creator had access. It was entirely developed in a kitchen.

The gelatine bioplastic is light and flexible. The natural and original colour is yellow with transparency. When fabricated with tea, the yellow colour from gelatine will blend with the tea colour. It can assume different colours when pigments are combined with the yellowish base. When heated, the bioplastic is similar to a gel state and can be manipulated to transform into different shapes and textures. The material transforms into a solid state when it cools down and becomes more rigid as the water evaporates.

The amount of water and glycerine interferes with the flexibility of the material. Higher amounts of glycerine result in a more flexible material. Lower quantities results in a more rigid bioplastic. The thickness of the material can also represent different flexibility. A bioplastic with the same material proportions can be more flexible with a lower thickness and a higher thickness would be rigid. It can be recyclable, applying warm and water, and also reused.