Harnessing invasive plants for use in industry

DW (English)

From pests to products: a chemist turns invasive plant species in France into ecocatalysts - used by various industries like cosmetics. Removing the plants mitigates their environmental impact and provides a sustainable source of raw materials.

Transcript

00:00It may look and sound like a weed, but Japanese knotweed, Fallopia japonica, can actually

00:08be a useful plant.

00:11Harvested by hand to prevent damage, it grows almost everywhere along this tributary of

00:15the River Rhône in southern France.

00:18Chemist Claude Grison discovered it here.

00:21Left unchecked, this invasive species is extremely harmful.

00:27It grows three to four times faster than the other plants, so it suffocates biodiversity

00:32in this area, which has an exceptional array of plants, so it's a real catastrophe from

00:37an ecological point of view, but also from an economic point of view, because it chokes

00:42this tributary that should be regulating excess water from the Rhône.

00:48One possibility would be to try and clear out the plants, but Claude Grison found a

00:53way to put them to good use.

00:55She developed a unique process to acquire natural catalysts.

00:59These are widely used in drug research and cosmetics production, because they're highly

01:03efficient at speeding up complex chemical reactions to create new molecules.

01:09The plant has a unique physiology.

01:11It can emit molecules that poison its neighbours.

01:16Claude Grison has long been fascinated by the incredible abilities of plants.

01:21More than ten years ago, she worked with a group of students researching the unique

01:25properties of indigenous species in New Caledonia, a French overseas territory in the Pacific.

01:33In New Caledonia, I discovered some exceptional plant species that tolerate pollution, so

01:38to speak.

01:40Better still, they can actually extract metals from their surroundings and store them in

01:45their leaves.

01:47With these plants, it's possible to regenerate soil that's been completely degraded by the

01:51presence of metals.

01:55Here in France, Grison has been focusing on invasive plants.

01:59Some species can purify polluted water.

02:02Others like Japanese knotweed are now being processed in the lab for use in industrial

02:06applications.

02:09The Compagnie Nationale du Rhône is in charge of managing land along the river and controlling

02:14invasive species here.

02:16Together with scientists, they harvest the plants across several administrative areas.

02:21We're looking to develop pest control techniques that can be used on a large or small scale

02:27and on different plants.

02:29The benefit is that we're promoting a type of chemistry that is green and sustainable.

02:34It's a kind of circular economy that integrates various species.

02:42Today the team has only managed to clear a few hundred metres of land.

02:46The plants are taken to a warehouse where they're dried for at least three days or longer

02:50in wet weather.

02:52Then they're shredded and sent to the laboratory.

02:56Here the plant material is placed in the oven to dry for a few hours.

03:02Only then is it ready for the chemical process in the lab.

03:06The resulting organic catalyst is mixed with water and a few natural additives to create

03:10a final product that's indispensable in cosmetics, for example.

03:14The final product is entirely natural, a clean alternative for an industry looking

03:19to shift away from harmful petroleum substances in personal care products.

03:28People think of chemistry as a discipline with a terrible environmental impact, which

03:32is true.

03:33But chemistry also gives us a better understanding of ecology, how a plant or insect functions

03:38on a molecular level.

03:40And so chemistry can have a positive impact on the environment.

03:44I'm interested in reconciling these two disciplines.

03:51Crizon's discoveries about plants in New Caledonia and France are so groundbreaking

03:55she received the European Inventor Award in 2022.

03:59The winner is Claude Crizon.

04:12Claude Crizon has already founded two companies, proof that her organic catalysts are in high

04:17demand.

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