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A plastic is considered biodegradable if it can degrade into water, carbon dioxide, and biomass in a given time frame (dependent on different standards). Thus, the terms are not synonymous. Not all bioplastics are biodegradable. [44] An example of a non-biodegradable bioplastic is bio-based PET. PET is a petrochemical plastic, derived from ...
Bioplastics can utilize previously unused waste materials (e.g., straw, woodchips, sawdust, and food waste). Life cycle analysis studies show that some bioplastics can be made with a lower carbon footprint than their fossil counterparts, for example when biomass is used as raw material and also for energy production. However, other bioplastics ...
A well-known example of biomagnification impacting health in recent times is the increased exposure to dangerously high levels of mercury in fish, which can affect sex hormones in humans. [ 49 ] In efforts to remediate the damages done by slow-degrading plastics, detergents, metals, and other pollutants created by humans, economic costs have ...
A new study is illuminating how “forever chemicals” can alter our brain cells by impairing the genes that maintain healthy neurons, the cells of our nervous system.
Why are microplastics bad? That’s still being discovered. “We don’t fully understand the health consequences of microplastics,” says Jamie Alan, PhD, ...
Biodegradable waste includes any organic matter in waste which can be broken down into carbon dioxide, water, methane, compost, humus, and simple organic molecules by micro-organisms and other living things by composting, aerobic digestion, anaerobic digestion or similar processes.
World leaders are meeting in Paris this month in what amounts to a last-ditch effort to avert the worst ravages of climate change. Climatologists now say that the best case scenario — assuming immediate and dramatic emissions curbs — is that planetary surface temperatures will increase by at least 2 degrees Celsius in the coming decades.
According to European Bioplastics, a plastic material is defined as a bioplastic if it is either bio-based plastic, biodegradable plastic, or is a material with both properties. Bioplastics have the same properties as conventional plastics and offer additional advantages, such as a reduced carbon footprint or additional waste management options ...