This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: A global symbol of parties and celebrations but an environmental headache, the humble balloon is undergoing a green revolution thanks to U.K. researchers. Researchers at Imperial College London say they have developed the first fully biodegradable balloon and hope to bring it to market within two years.
"So there were hundreds of trials. We had many, many failures," said Juliana Cumming, a Ph.D. student at the university and co-creator of the "Bioloon," a 100% biodegradable balloon. In a university laboratory, the 29-year-old proudly showed a flask containing a precious yellow liquid.
Once solidified, it becomes a soft, elastic material with a texture comparable to that of a conventional balloon. But there is one crucial difference—it breaks down completely within nine months, unlike traditional balloons, Cumming said. The Bioloon is the result of a public-private partnership launched by Charlotte Melia, an events entrepreneur who describes herself as environmentally minded.
"I was a party planner for over 10 years and ... I was very sustainably focused. The final stumbling block for me was the balloon waste," she told AFP.
"We were putting out thousands of party balloons every single week," she said, but they were only there "for a matter of hours simply to be popped and thrown in the trash." The final straw came when she realized "balloons were non-biodegradable," even though the packaging said they would break up "at the rate of an oak leaf." Convinced that a sustainable alternative was possible, Melia and an associate decided to put up £30,000 ($41,000) to help fund Cumming's doctoral research. The environmental impact of traditional balloons, which despite their advertising do not degrade, is largely unknown to the general public. But a number of studies have documented the dangers posed by balloons 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 balloons were "the highest-risk plastic debris item" for seabirds, carrying a mortality risk 32 times higher than that from ingesting hard plastics. Imperial College's Department of Chemical Engineering estimates that between 20 billion and 25 billion balloons are purchased worldwide every year. Cumming spent three years developing her formula.
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