Scientists turn common kitchen waste into glue strong enough to tow car

Scientists turn common kitchen waste into glue strong enough to tow car

Vishwam Sankaran

Tue, December 9, 2025 at 10:44 AM UTC

2 min read

Scientists turn common kitchen waste into glue strong enough to tow car

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Scientists have developed a way to turn cooking oil waste discarded by restaurants into recyclable plastic and a superglue strong enough to tow a car.

The new method could be a sustainable way to create new household materials from non-edible waste, say researchers.

Plastic products present a growing global crisis, particularly as their production still largely depends on fossil fuels. To overcome this reliance on fossil fuels, scientists have attempted to use bio-based plastics from biomass or waste instead of petrochemicals.

Such polymer materials made from commercial waste can replace conventional plastics and dependence on fossil fuels.

Now, researchers, including those from the University of South Carolina, have found a way to use discarded cooking oil to make “mimics” of polyethylene or polythene – the material commonly used in plastic bags.

"Waste streams offer a potentially attractive alternative to biomass-derived feedstocks [to make plastics]," scientists wrote in the study.

Metal plates stuck together with cooking oil adhesive strong enough to tow car (Mahadas et al., Journal of the American Chemical Society (2025))

These new materials have a chemical structure and physical behaviour resembling that of polyethylene (PE), they say.

By using what could otherwise be discarded oil that can cause environmental issues, scientists say they have made polythene production more sustainable.

Cooking oil is made of long fatty acid chains, and researchers found that a series of chemical reactions can turn them into long polymer chains, mimicking those in polyethylene.

The resulting material was found to behave like polyethylene, with similar mechanical strength, flexibility or rigidity, but made from a renewable, waste-derived resource.

Scientists could also fine-tune the physical properties of the final plastic by controlling whether its polymer chain was linear or branched.

Linear polymers packed more tightly and were more rigid, while branched ones were more flexible.

Some polymers produced this way were also sticky.

Researchers stuck two stainless-steel plates together using the polymer, which could hold up even up to 123kg (270lbs) of weight.

The glued steel plates could stay together even when used to tow a sedan on a slightly uphill slope, according to the study published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Researchers say the adhesive is “ideal for applications in laminates and glues used in packaging, automotive components, medical devices, and electronics”.

“This work illustrates a powerful waste-to-materials approach that aligns with circular economy principles and elevates the potential of biomass in sustainable plastics’ innovation,” scientists wrote.

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