Sustainable closed-loop recyclable bioplastics

Celluplastic integrates multiscale cellulose structures to simultaneously achieve high mechanical performance, transparency, biodegradability, and closed-loop recyclability, overcoming key limitations of conventional bioplastics. Fossil plastics are versatile but generally cause serious pollution due to low recycling rates and non-degradability. Biodegradable bioplastics are eco-friendly, but they fall short in properties like stretchability and toughness. Moreover, the use of cross-linking agents and the need for costly reagents and complex procedures hinder their recyclability. Here, we introduce celluplastic, a sustainable bioplastic constructed from multiscale wood-derived microfibrillated cellulose network, dialcohol cellulose nanorods, and modified cellulose molecular chains. This hierarchical design enables celluplastic to match fossil plastics in terms of strength (>30 MPa), strain (>100%), transparency, and colorlessness, while outperforming other bioplastics. Importantly, celluplastic combines inherent biodegradability with straightforward aqueous closed-loop recyclability, demonstrated for over 100 cycles without substantial loss of performance. Our work establishes a scalable pathway for designing high-performance, circular bioplastics that retain fossil-plastic functionality with sustainable end-of-life solutions. This approach could accelerate the adoption of renewable materials in practical plastic applications.