
Car Parts from Chicken Feathers?
By Don Comis April 25, 2000When a poultry processing plant in
Southwest Missouri closed, who would have thought that the former plant's waste
would become the new plant's main business? Soon trucks will be delivering
loads of raw feathers from other poultry processing plants to be converted into
feather fibers. Featherfiber Corporation, the new owner, is refurbishing the
plant. Before converting this plant, Featherfiber Corporation President David R.
Emery contracted with a Michigan firm to make test runs of 8- by 10-inch sample
materials, using Featherfiber, which eventually will be used to manufacture
items such as filters, diapers, clothing, paper, absorbent pads and wipes,
insulation and upholstery padding. Emery is equipping the Missouri plant to produce 200 pounds of Featherfiber
an hour. The company plans to eventually add plants around the U.S., each
producing many tons per hour. Two other firms--Tyson Foods, Spingdale,
Ark., and Maxim Industries, Altadena, Calif.--also share rights to a
U.S. Department of Agriculture-patented
technique to turn feathers into a fiber that can be mixed with natural and
synthetic fibers to form new products and to enhance the performance of
existing fiber products. Walter F. Schmidt, a chemist with USDA's Agricultural Research Service, is the lead
scientist in the group that developed the technique. Schmidt is at the ARS
Environmental Chemistry
Laboratory in Beltsville, Md. The technique involves sanitizing the fibers,
then removing them from feather quills. The protein fibers are as strong as
nylon and finer and stronger than wood pulp. This gives feather products
superior filtration, absorbency and durability. Unlike wood pulp, the feather pulp doesn't require bleaching because
commercial chickens are bred for white color. Both the feather fibers and the
quills can also replace some of the plastic or fiberglass in products such as
auto dashboards, door panels, ceiling lining, and other internal molded parts. For every pound of Featherfiber produced, there's a pound of quills left
over. Featherfiber Corporation will process the quills into protein for
shampoos, hair conditioners, hair coloring, dietary supplements and other
items. Scientific contact: Walter F. Schmidt,
ARS Environmental Chemistry Laboratory, Beltsville, Md., phone (301) 504-5030,
fax (301) 504-5048, [email protected]. U.S. Department of Agriculture | |