An Israeli researcher said he has found a sweet solution to a sour worldwide problem: mountains of disposed plastic items that pack landfills and wash out to sea, and take decades, if not centuries to melt down.

Prof. Moshe Kol of the Tel Aviv University (TAU) School of Chemistry, working in tandem with colleagues at the University of Aachen in Germany and the University of Bath in England, is using corn starch and sugar to help create "green" plastics for hundreds of common items that is as strong as or stronger than oil-based versions of the products.

"The structure of these corn-based plastics depends on several parameters. The most important is the character of the building blocks, like Lego blocks, that hold the material together," says Prof. Kol, in a statement from TAU released this week.

Early results of tests, in this case to create a transparent disposable drinking cup, looks and feels like the more familiar polystyrene, although the cup can only hold liquids under 122 degrees Fahrenheit.

But Prof. Kol said he is improving the process in order to increase the heat-resistance and strength of the material.

The polylactic acid or PLA material that the team is working with is made of biodegradable, renewable plant sources such as corn, wheat or sugarcane, according to the statement, and is already in use in thin film products like bottles and bags.

Kol is still looking for ways to improve the material as a replacement for steel and concrete in many industrial areas. Such corn-based plastic would have no toxicity and would be able to biodegrade within several months instead of millennia, according to the statement.