A global symbol of parties and celebrations yet a significant environmental problem, the humble balloon is undergoing an ecological revolution thanks to British researchers. Researchers at Imperial College London said they have developed the first completely biodegradable balloon and hope to bring the product to market within two years.
"There were hundreds of trials. We had many, many failures," said Juliana Cumming, a doctoral student at the university and co-creator of the "Bioloon", a 100% biodegradable balloon. The 29-year-old researcher showed AFP a vial containing a precious yellow liquid that, once solidified, becomes a soft and elastic material with a texture comparable to that of a conventional balloon.
But there is a crucial difference: it decomposes completely within nine months, unlike traditional balloons, according to Cumming. The Bioloon is the result of a public-private partnership launched by Charlotte Melia, an events entrepreneur who describes herself as environmentally conscious. "I was a party organiser for more than 10 years and was very focused on sustainability. The last obstacle for me was balloon waste," Melia told AFP.
The environmental impact of traditional balloons, which despite their marketing do not degrade, is largely unknown to the general public. Several studies have documented the dangers balloons pose once they end up in nature, particularly for marine life and birds. A 2019 study by the University of Tasmania, published in Scientific Reports, found that balloons were "the plastic waste item of highest risk" for seabirds, with a mortality risk 32 times greater than ingesting hard plastics.
Imperial College's Department of Chemical Engineering estimates that between 20 billion and 25 billion balloons are purchased worldwide each year. Cumming spent three years developing her formula, using natural latex derived from the sap of the rubber tree, native to the Amazon, as a starting point. To convert natural latex into rubber, it goes through a process called vulcanisation with sulphur that involves adding sulphur accelerators, antioxidants and activators that prevent biodegradation and leach toxic chemicals into the environment.
Cumming focused on this stage of the manufacturing process. "Our balloon is still made with natural latex, but we mix it with another biodegradable polymer and do not add any of these additives that are used in traditional balloons," she said, without revealing further details of the patented process. According to the creators, the Bioloon decomposes regardless of where it ends up. The researchers "tested it in soil, seawater and deionised water. It degraded in all those conditions and we estimate it will biodegrade within approximately nine months," Cumming indicated.
For Melia, the potential of the technology extends beyond party decorations and could be adapted for everyday and medical products, including household gloves, surgical gloves, latex garments and condoms.
