1.   Battelle, a research corporation based in Ohio, has begun producing biodegradable plastics from vegetable oil.

2.   Bio-engineered plants might soon be used to produce plastics and other substances now made using diminishing supplies of petroleum in dangerous, polluting petrochemical plants.

3.   By then, the company also hopes to have biologically engineered, supersweet and disease-resistant strawberries, as well as plants that can produce biodegradable plastics.

4.   Eventually, the group produced a plastic composed of two polymers.

5.   She likes Sasol, which began making oil from coal to beat sanctions and now produces plastics from discarded byproducts.

6.   Just this past year, oil prices have doubled on world markets, putting a squeeze on profits from producing plastic.

7.   Elborough said the exact process of producing plastic in plants was being kept secret for commercial reasons.