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The United Nations Environment Programme used 2 different studies to estimate the impact of plastic on climate: according to the first, by the year 2040 the annual emissions from plastic will reach 2.1 GtCO2 and will consume 19% of the 1.5 degrees carbon budget, while the second estimated the emissions in the year 2015 as 1.7 GtCO2 and ...
[59] [60] The environmental impact of bioplastics is often debated, as there are many different metrics for "greenness" (e.g., water use, energy use, deforestation, biodegradation, etc.). [61] [62] [63] Hence bioplastic environmental impacts are categorized into nonrenewable energy use, climate change, eutrophication and acidification. [64]
Disposable plastic cups made from biodegradable plastic. Biodegradable plastics are plastics that can be decomposed by the action of living organisms, usually microbes, into water, carbon dioxide, and biomass. [1] Biodegradable plastics are commonly produced with renewable raw materials, micro-organisms, petrochemicals, or combinations of all ...
Thus, it is very important that there are standards for plastic biodegradable products, which have a large impact on the environment. The development and use of accurate standard test methods can help ensure that all plastics that are being produced and commercialized will actually biodegrade in natural environments. [15]
A zero-waste strategy improves upon production processes and improves environmental prevention strategies which can lead to taking larger, more innovative steps. Supports sustainability. A zero-waste strategy supports all three of the generally accepted goals of sustainability - economic well-being, environmental protection, and social well ...
Biodegradable waste when not handled properly can have an outsized impact on climate change, especially through methane emissions from anaerobic fermentation that produces landfill gas. Other approaches to reducing the impact include reducing the amount of waste produced, such as through reducing food waste .
In typical parlance, the word biodegradable is distinct in meaning from compostable.While biodegradable simply means an object is capable of being decomposed by bacteria or other living organisms, "compostable" in the plastic industry is defined as able to decompose in aerobic environments that are maintained under specific controlled temperature and humidity conditions.
Biodegradable polymers also received notice from various fields in 2012 when Professor Geoffrey Coates of Cornell University received the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award. As of 2013, 5-10% of the plastic market focused on biodegradable polymer derived plastics. [citation needed]