Researchers have extracted cellulose strands from cow manure and turned them into manufacturing-grade cellulose for use in everyday items such as surgical masks and food packaging.
Cellulose is one of the world’s most commonly used manufacturing materials and can be found in items including cling film, paper products, textiles, foods and pharmaceuticals.
While cellulose can be extracted organically from plants, it is more often than not produced synthetically using toxic chemicals.
Cellulose also exists in the manure of grass-eating animals, such as cows, because they do not fully digest plant material.
Manure is a growing problem worldwide, as farmers are producing more manure than they can legitimately use as fertiliser.
Research in 2019 estimated that the amount of animal waste is due to increase by 40% between 2003 and 2030 to at least five billion tons.
Looking to enable a true circular economy, a research team from University College London (UCL) and Edinburgh Napier University decided...