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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 ...
[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]
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.
Furthermore, plastic bottles and plastic bags that end up in landfills are frequently consumed by animals, which then clogs their digestive systems and leads to death. [4] Because of the substantial growth in plastic consumption, biodegradable additives are becomingly increasingly necessary to increase the rate of degradability of common plastics.
Biodegradable technology is established technology with some applications in product packaging, production, and medicine. [31] The chief barrier to widespread implementation is the trade-off between biodegradability and performance. For example, lactide-based plastics are inferior packaging properties in comparison to traditional materials.
There are vast examples and applications of biodegradable polymers. Bio-based packaging materials have been introduced as a green alternative in the past decades, among which, edible films have gained more attention due to their environmentally-friendly characteristics, vast variety and availability, non-toxicity, and low cost.
Biodegradable films need to be kept away from the usual recycling stream to prevent contaminating the polymers to be recycled. If disposed of in a sanitary landfill, most traditional plastics do not readily decompose. The conditions of a sealed landfill additionally deter degradation of biodegradable polymers.
Polymer degradation is the reduction in the physical properties of a polymer, such as strength, caused by changes in its chemical composition.Polymers and particularly plastics are subject to degradation at all stages of their product life cycle, including during their initial processing, use, disposal into the environment and recycling. [1]