"We found a material which is like a glue stick, called PVOH or polyvinyl alcohol. One of the criteria is it has to be food safe, if kids are licking the product, and it has to be fully biodegradable in the sewage system," he adds.
Wangsaputra realized that PVOH could be the key to removing a bottleneck in e-waste recycling — transportation, which raises costs and creates carbon emissions. That’s in addition to the fact that most e-waste isn’t even recycled. Removing the plastic casing at home would be beneficial, лаки джет играть he thought.
The idea has funding from the UK government and the four are working on the project at London’s Royal College of Arts, going through a series of iterations. "We are creating something that is water soluble, but also waterproof. The challenge was making a (waterproof) coating that is biodegradable, but also very resistant.