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Bioplastics
All about Bioplastics
What is Bioplastics?
Statistics:
- Plastic is the third most commonly used petroleum derivative in the world; each year 200 million tons of plastic are consumed on the planet.
- It comes from a non-renewable source (petroleum), it is contaminating and non-biodegradable (it can take more than 1000 years to decompose).
Bioplastic: An alternative to traditional plastic-
- Bioplastics is being promoted, consisting in obtaining natural polymers from agricultural, cellulose or potato and corn starch waste.
- These are 100% degradable, equally resistant and versatile, already used in agriculture, textile industry, medicine and, over all, in the container and packaging market, and biopolymers are already becoming popular in cities throughout Europe and the United States for ecological reasons: they are known as PHA.
- This product is expected to cover the needs of 10% of the European plastics market within 10 years.
PHA as bioplastic:
- These are polyesters produced by fermenting raw vegetable materials with a series of bacterial strains.
- For example, PHAs can be used for injection molding to build automobile parts and for many other uses.
- Specifically, PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoate) is extracted from bacteria such as pseudomonas.
- In its natural form, it is similar to transparent kitchen film, with the difference that it is an authentic bioplastic.
Advantages of bioplastics:
- They reduce carbon footprint.
- They providing energy savings in production.
- They do not involve the consumption of non-renewable raw materials.
- Their production reduces non-biodegradable waste that contaminates the environment.
- They do not contain additives that are harmful to health, such as phthalates or bisphenol A.
- They do not change the flavor or scent of the food contained.
Key challenge:
- Reliance on food crops- The reliance on food crops presents a key challenge for bioplastics, because these crops are simply not a cost-competitive alternative to fossil fuels today.
- Support from government- Innovation is being driven by policy, such as the European Union’s 2015 action plan towards a circular economy. Given the high cost and technological barriers the bioplastics industry needs support.
Source
The Hindu