They currently have two methods to produce bioplastics. One method is to mix proteins from silk and chitin from shrimp cells and is called shrilk. The other method is to attempt to create molecular arrangements of pure chitin without adding anything else. The second method is cheaper and easier to manufacture, but the bioplastics created are weaker than those made from previous method. [citation T4.10]

 

This new biodegradable plastic can be broken down into the environment after two weeks and releases nutrients that feed plants at the same time. However, shrimp bioplastic has one drawback at the moment: Chitosan is not naturally waterproof. It requires a coating of beeswax to create a similar coating to that of petroleum-based plastics. 

 

Now researchers at Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering are trying to refine their methods so that they can take them out of the laboratory, and move them into commercial manufacturing facilities.    [citation T4.6]