Starch-based paints for spudding artists. (paints extracted from potatoes)

The paints of the future could be extracted from potatoes, thanks to a new initiative at ICI. The company has made experimental paints that use starch in place of some petrochemical ingredients.

Starch-based paints are as economic as synthetic coatings and could have novel properties, Philip Taylor of ICI Paints told a recent conference on growing industrial feedstocks as crops. In addition, they may prove to be more environmentally friendly - the feedstocks are sustainable and leftovers could be recycled on a compost heap instead of being dumped at the back of the shed. ICI is testing paints made from potato, wheat and maize starch, Taylor said.

Paintmakers first …