Plastics and Bioplastics – How Do They Affect The Environment?

Are Bioplastics safe for the environment?

A process is good for the environment if it has been made with a net saving of energy and water, a net reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and if possible, reverse the flow of carbon into the atmosphere — for example, producing plastic from resources such as plants that absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Unlike production of PLA and PHA made by fermentation, which theoretically compete for land used to grow food crops, growing PHA in corn stover would enable both grain and plastic to be reaped from the same field. Unfortunately this method consumed even more fossil than the manufacture of conventional plastic when the  energy required for processing the corn stover, purifying the plastic, separating and recycling the solvent, and blending the plastic to produce a resin is taken into account. This is because coal and natural gas power the corn-farming and corn-processing industries.

When fuels from non-renewable fossils are compared with those from biomass of corn stover, the latter fare better as burning the carbon contained in corn stalks etc., would not increase net carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, because new plants growing would absorb an equal amount of the gas.

Because bioplastics are made from natural, harmless materials, including corn starch, these plastics are much friendlier to the earth during the manufacturing process. The corn used to create the cornstarch grows, and while growing, the plant removes carbon dioxide from the air, which gives bioplastics an added advantage. Because of this, bioplastics are considered carbon neutral, because they absorb just as much carbon while growing as it takes to create the bioplastics.

Disadvantages of Bioplastics 

• Bioplastics takes about 3–6 months for the bioplastics to decompose and compost and needs the services of a commercial composting facility. Hence you cannot simply bury bioplastics in your backyard and hope it will compost.
• Bioplastics are designed to be composted, not recycled. The caveat is that bioplastics has to be separated from conventional plastics so that it doesn’t contaminate their recycling.
• Bioplastics make use of genetically modified food crops, a technology highly dependent on chemical pesticides and fertilizers that can contaminate groundwater and our food supply. It also makes use of land that could be used for food production.

Read also

Choosing plastic milk bottles for kids

References

http://www.plasticsindustry.org

http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Biodegrade/Green-PlasticsAug00.htm