Bioplastics : An important component of global sustainability

Bioplastics are either biobased or biodegradable or both. Plastics are a vital asset for humanity, often providing functionality that cannot be easily or economically replaced by other materials. Most plastics are robust and last for hundreds of years.

What is a bioplastic?A bioplastic is a plastic that is made partly or wholly from polymers derived from biological sources such as sugarcane, potato starch or the cellulose from trees, straw and cotton. Some bioplastics degrade in the open air, others are made so that they compost in an industrial composting plant, aided by fungi, bacteria and enzymes. Others mimic the robustness and durability of conventional plastics such as polyethylene or PET. Bioplastics can generally be directly substituted for their oil-based equivalent. Indeed, they can generally be made to be chemically identical to the standard industrial plastics.

The world plastics industry and the role of bioplastics.

The annual output of the world’s plastics industry is about 225 million tones a year. This number has grown by a few per cent per year over the last decade. The bioplastics industry is much smaller, with 2011 probably seeing a total output of about 1m tones, or less than half of one per cent of total world plastics output. But the growth rate of bioplastics is much higher. Most sources suggest that this part of the plastics industry is growing at least 20% a year. The reasons for this buoyancy are discussed later in this note.

Two types of use :

Items that might eventually become litter

Eg: such as shopping bags or food packaging

Permanent bioplastics

Eg: such as polythene manufactured from sugar cane

Global Production of Bioplastics

STANDARD COMPOSITION OF BIOPLASTIC

The benefits from using bioplastics

Major consumer goods brands and bioplastics

The value of the reduction in landfill/expensive preparation for recycling

Litter

The advantages of bioplastics:

• Potentially a much lower carbon footprint• Lower energy costs in manufacture• Do not use scarce crude oil• Reduction in litter and improved compostability from using biodegradable bioplastics• Improved acceptability to many households

Bioplastics demand will continue to grow:Continued research and development in bioplastics is creating high quality products for a wide variety of industries.Now that the benefits of biologically sourced plastics are well-understood, their market share is likely to rise sharply.The three drivers of growth – the importance of brand image to consumer goods companies, the value of jointcomposting and the reduction of litter – will provide the spur for continued growth in bioplastics across the world.

Bioplastics are an important part of the move to a more sustainable world.

Bioplastics, currently accounting for less than half of one per cent of all plastics manufacture, are growing rapidly because of the clear advantages they have in many applications. As oil supply tightens, these advantages will grow. Their carbon footprint can be much lower than oil-based equivalents.Bioplastics can provide excellent biodegradability, helping the world deal with the increasing problems of litter, particularly in the world’s rivers and seas. Durable plant-based bioplastics can also be recycled as well as their conventional equivalents, assisting the growth of a more sustainable world economy.

THANK YOU

Presentation by,L Shivarasan [138]

Akshay Gowda [139]Arjun Kittur [140]