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BIOPLASTICS
Timeline
Testing Procedures
DID YOU KNOW?
For every minute, about 2 million plastic bags are used in the world and a million plastic bottles are produced? [H.1]
Background
Overview of Bioplastics
Bioplastics are a type plastic substance made up of biopolymers with various material or biological properties that make it either bio-based or biodegradable or both.
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Bio-based plastic are made out of renewable materials such as vegetable fats and oils, corn starch, and sugarcane; whereas, biodegradable bioplastics are plastic that are able to decompose with the help of micro-organisms in the surrounding environment. [H.4]
Environmental Impact
Bioplastics have the potential to reduce and solve a major problem involving the use of plastic and plastic waste that is contaminating and poisoning the Earth and its environment.
Benefits:​
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Reduce carbon footprint: Bioplastics reduce the use of fossil fuels during production and they generate 68% less greenhouse gas than regular plastics. This is because the plants they come from sequester carbon dioxide during their growth. And using these plants aids in the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and keeps it is stored in the product itself. Because of this, it prevents the accumulation of GHG in the atmosphere that adds to the greenhouse effect, which is causing global warming and climate change. And the major factor of that is the use of plastic in the world.
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Saves energy: Bioplastics require less energy to produce and manufacture because they do not need to go through multiple steps on having to be converted into different molecules like plastic does.
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Biodegradable: Biopolymers that make up bioplastics are able to break down into simple monomers depending on the plastic's composition and their environment, which has an effect on the time that it degrades. Usually, bioplastics will degrade within 3 months in compost sites. Comparing this to traditional plastics, they may take 10-1000 years to fully degrade.
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Comes from renewable resources: Bioplastics come from plant material such as corn and rice that helps prompt the growth of new crops after it degrades and eventually new bioplastics; whereas, regular plastics comes from petroleum that is refined through multiple steps to produce oil.
Production Process
Currently, most bioplastics are made out of polylactic acid (PLA) typically from algae and different agricultural feedstocks. This is because algae grows tremendously fast and is a very productive organism compared to most agricultural crop. But, some crops like corn are still used because it requires the least amount of land to grow and it produces the highest yield. Both, algae and corn produce essential raw materials like oil, proteins, pigments, hydrocarbon, and sugar for bioplastics. [H.6]
Steps:
1. Carbohydrates from algae or starch from crops (corn and sugarcane) are milled and grounded
2. Simple sugar like dextrose are extracted
3. Simple sugars are broken down into lactic acid through bacterial fermentation
4. Lactic acid is turned into lactide molecules through polycondensation and polymerization under high temperature and pressure
5. Lactide molecules are combined to form polylactic acid
Biodegradation
Bioplastics turn into carbon dioxide, water, biomass that improves soil quality, and non-toxic residues by using micro-organisms including bacteria and algae when they degrade. This process takes 90-180 days to complete, but it goes by faster when products are in compost facilities. If they are left in other places like compost streams, they can cause contamination there because they are not able to break down. Bio-based plastics are an exception to this because they possess a similar molecular structure to petroleum based plastics and can be recycled together. Also, during this process, bioplastics release about 70% less greenhouse gas into the atmosphere. [H.8]
Types of biodegradation
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Anaerobic:
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Takes place in anaerobic conditions where anaerobic bacteria called anaerobes break down bioplastics into biogas such as methane and carbon dioxide
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Solids with nutrients that are left behind are used as fertilizer
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Biogas is used as energy and replaces fossil fuels
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Process: 1. Bacteria breaks down plastics and carbohydrates. 2. Acetogenic bacteria converts the sugars and amino acids into carbon, hydrogen, ammonia, and organic acid. 3. Then, it is turned into acetic acid, and methanogen changes it to methane and carbon dioxide.​​
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​Aerobic:
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Occurs in aerobic conditions, where bioplastics decompose with the help of aerobes that releases energy as a byproduct.
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​Process: 1. Glucose breaks down into smaller molecules in the cytoplasm of aerobes 2. Molecules travel to the mitochondria, where cellular respiration takes place. 3. Molecules break down into water and carbon dioxide when oxygen is applied, and this releases energy.
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The Market
Bioplastic production has been growing at a rate of 26.03% since 2018, going from about 2.11 million tonnes to possibly 2.62 million tonnes by 2023 with PLA and PHA being the main drivers of this growth. Moreover, the market size of bioplastic was around 6.95 billion dollars in 2018 and is estimated to be 14.92 billion in the next 4 years, with a CAGR of 16.5%. The contributing factors to this is: the decrease in petroleum reserves to produce plastic, the increase cost of petroleum plastic, and the ban of plastics in multiple European countries leading manufactures and producers to look towards bioplastic. [H.10]
Leading regions for production:
As of right now, 50% of the bioplastic comes from Asia Pacific because of their high amounts of plant and animal feedstock. Europe is second with the largest production capacity next to Asia Pacific, producing 20% of the total amount. [H.11]
Pie chart showing the total of global production and the major regions involved.
Bar graph showing the increase over time in global production.
Click below for more information on bioplastics:
Articles on Bioplastics
"The process was expensive, and raised food prices by diverting edible crops. Instead, scientists sought a new approach using low-quality, woody biomass from agricultural residue, tree waste, and grasses..."
"The breakthrough process utilizes lignin, which is a complex organic compound that hardens and strengthens the cell walls of plants. The scientists edit the DNA of a specific microbe to speed up its production of the enzyme..."
Interviews
Roundtable Sustainable Biomaterial (RSB) with Hasso Von Pogrell
In this recent interview with Hasso Von Pogrell, a member of the European Bioplastic organization, he discusses the benefits and advantages of bioplastic, the material it is made up of, and the future of bioplastics...
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