ISTANBUL – A 16-year-old girl from Turkey bagged the Science in Action award at the Google Science Fair for making environmentally friendly bioplastic—out of banana peels. Elif Bilgin, of Istanbul, won $50,000 for her project that promises to help address environmental, health or resources challenges. “My project is about using banana peels in the production of bioplastic as a replacement of the traditional petroleum-based plastic. In this project, I developed a method for making plastic by using banana peels and found new areas for the use of the plastic that I manufactured: using the bioplastic in the making of cosmetic prosthesis and in the insulation of cables,” Bilgin said. She said she worked on her project for two years, with the goal of making plastic that can actually be used in daily life. Bilgin, who attends Koc High School and “love(s) doing scientific research,” noted the bio-plastic is such a new concept with a widening range of uses. “The bioplastic is a material which has the potential of causing a biological reform by means of reducing the amount of pollution caused by other plastic materials which contain petroleum derivatives. Apart from this, the bio-plastic industry's newness creates room for further development of the bio-plastics manufactured so far,” she said. Scientific American said Bilgin had endured 10 failed trials of plastics that “weren't strong enough or that decayed rapidly,” but was undaunted. “We admire her persistence, which will be help her to take advantage of another aspect of her Science in Action prize—a year's worth of mentoring to help further her work. I like to think, too, that Edison, who used to stop by the Scientific American offices in New York City to demonstrate his latest inventions, would have approved,” it said. – Agencies
