Biodegradable Plastic – A Potential Substitute for
Synthetic Polymers
U. Priyanka1* ,
Abhishek Nandan2
1Anil Neerukonda Institute of Technology and
Sciences, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam A.P. India
2University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun
*Corresponding Author: uddandaraopriyanka@yahoo.com
ABSTRACT:
In recent years, there has been a marked
increase in interest in biodegradable materials for use in packaging,
agriculture, medicine, and other areas. Polyethylene, polyvinylchloride,
polystyrene are largely used in the manufacture of plastics which are not
degradable for several hundred years. But the point is that even though they
take thousands of years, they are eventually decomposed which means that there
exist some microbes which can degrade plastic. If these microbes are
genetically manipulated and made to degrade polythene (plastic) at a faster
rate, it would be a novel technique to solve the global waste crisis. Example: Streptomyces sps.
While these are various techniques to degrade
the synthetic plastics, there are some methods to produce biodegradable
polymers which can be easily decomposed by microbes on disposal. These polymers
are made out of naturally occurring materials such as starch, cellulose, lactic
acid and fiber, extracted from various types of plants. Biopolymers limit
carbon dioxide emissions during creation, and degrade to organic matter after
disposal but this does not mean that all the biopolymers should be completely
biodegradable. However, microbial consumption of
polymers is available through addition of hydrophilic type additives onto the
surface of the polymer chains. These types of additives are readily available
and are used worldwide. For example, Polylactic acid (PLA) is a 100% compostable biopolymer which can fully
degrade above 600C in an industrial composting facility.
Biodegradable plastics are scientifically
sound, and a novel idea, but the infrastructure needed to commercially expand
their use is still costly, and inconvenient to develop. Time is of the essence
for biodegradable polymer development, as society’s current views on
environmental responsibility make this an ideal time for further growth of
biopolymers..
KEY WORDS:
INTRODUCTION:
A plastic material is any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic solids used in the
manufacture of industrial products. Plastics are typically polymers of high molecular mass, and
may contain other substances to improve performance and/or reduce production
costs. They are capable of being shaped or molded. Plastics are strong,
light-weighted, and durable. However, they are disadvantageous as they are
resistant to degradation, leading to pollution, harmful to the natural
environment.
The successful production and marketing of biodegradable plastics will
help alleviate the problem of environmental pollution. In the past 10 years,
several biodegradable plastics have been introduced into the market. However,
none of them is efficiently biodegradable in landfills.
Bioplastics or organic plastics
are a form of plastics derived from renewable biomass sources, such as
vegetable oil, corn starch, pea starch, or microbiota,
rather than fossil-fuel plastics which are derived from petroleum. Some, but
not all, bioplastics are designed to biodegrade.
Biodegradable plastics (Bioplastics)
are natural biopolymers that are synthesized and catabolized
by various organisms. These materials do not cause toxic effects in the host
and have advantages over petroleum-derived plastic.
Plastics are the most widely used materials
for the production of various consumer products because of their cost,
durability and resistance to degradation. They have become a major part of many
of the components which we use in our daily life. Plastics play a major role in
packaging in almost all industries by replacing glass and paper. Due to
uncontrollable increase in the population and a need to adopt cheaper ways,
non-degradable materials have gained enormous importance in past few decades.
But, as plastics are disposable and non-degradable, their accumulation in
environment has become a major problem.
Synthetic plastics not only take several long
years for degradation, but also release toxic chemicals during the process.
These concerns paved way to dig out mechanisms to produce plastics that are
readily degradable and are gaining attention as “Eco-friendly plastics”. In
this process, there took place discoveries of a wide range of microbial species
which can synthesize plastics and some which can degrade them.
Historical perspective on production of Bioplastics:
Singh and Parmar
(2011) utilized the biodiversity of bacteria to isolate
various species from different environments and screen them for their ability
to produce PHB. Sixteen unknown samples were collected, assayed and compared
with known bioplastic producers (Ralstonia,
Bacillus and Pseudomonas). Conditions were extensively optimized by varying
the temperature,
carbon, nitrogen and substrate sources for maximal PHB production.
Presence of accumulation of PHB in these strains was confirmed by microscopic
staining.
Chaijamrus and Udpuay (2008) have studied the accumulation of PHB granules in the cells of Bacillus megaterium was significantly depended on the
ratio of C-source and N-source in the medium culture. Sugarcane molasses (MOL)
and corn steep liquor (CSL) were used as renewable raw
materials, since they were rich in carbon and nitrogen
respectively, leading to develop a low cost process of PHB
production. The highest PHB production was observed after 45h of growth (43% w/w, dry
matter) when 4% molasses and 4% CSL were
used, whereas the highest biomass (7.2 g/l) was obtained at
4% molasses and 6% CSL. This indicated that bacterial
growth increased as CSL concentration increased, whereas the PHB
accumulation decreased. The formation rate of PHB up to 0.016 h-1
and specific growth rate up to 0.25 h-1 were observed
during growth. The chemical structure and thermal properties of PHB
produced from molasses and CSL were obtained the same
properties as commercial PHB, except for the higher molecular
mass (approx. 3.9 x 106 Da) and the
lower degree of crystallinity (60% XC).Thus, the
present data indicate that molasses and CSL could be
alternatively used for PHB production by this bacterium with high PHB
content and adequate
properties of biopolymer from a low cost process.
Gouda et
al. (2001) used cane molasses and corn steep liquor, two of the cheapest
substrates available in Egypt to reduce the cost of producing such biopolyesters. The effect of different carbon sources was
studied and maximum production of PHB was obtained with cane molasses and
glucose as sole carbon sources (40.8, 39.9 per mg cell dry matter,
respectively). The best growth was obtained with 3% molasses, while maximum
yield of PHB (46.2% per mg cell dry matter) was obtained with 2% molasses. Corn
steep liquor was the best nitrogen source for PHB synthesis (32.7 mg per cell
dry matter), on the other hand, best growth was observed when ammonium chloride,
ammonium sulphate, ammonium oxalate or ammonium
phosphate were used as nitrogen sources.
Sayed et
al. (2009) investigated batch and two-stage batch culture of Ralstonia eutropha and Alcaligenes latus for producing
the intracellular bioplastic poly-β-hydroxybutyric acid (PHB) using shake flasks technique. The
highest growth and PHB production of Ralstonia eutropha and Alcaligenes latus were recorded
on medium containing glucose or sucrose (as a carbon source), respectively.
Ammonium sulfate was the best nitrogen source for PHB production by both
strains. The productive medium which contains carbon source and ammonium
sulfate in C/N ratio of 12.57 gave the highest PHB either by Ralstonia eutropha and Alcaligenes latus. Applying the
two stage batch fermentation with nitrogen limitation increased the PHB content
(%) of R.eutropha and A.latus
cells about 48.43 % and 14.29 %, respectively.
Guocheng et al. (2001) investigated
the continuous production of PHB in a two-stage continuous culture system. The first-stage produced cell mass giving the maximal
cell dry weight of 27.1 g l-1 at 0.21 h-1 of dilution
rate. High specific cell growth rate results in
the decrease of PHB synthesis under glucose-limited and nitrogen-rich
conditions in the first-stage. The second-stage
produced PHB giving the maximal PHB concentration of 47.6 g l-1 at
0.14 h-1 of dilution rate. Specific
PHB synthetic rate reached highest value at low dilution rate under
nitrogen-limited condition in the second-stage, and decreased with the increase
of ammonium concentration in the culture. In the continuous culture system, the
maximal PHB productivity could reach 1.43 g l-1h-1 at a
dilution rate of 0.12 h-1, but with relatively low PHB content of
47.6%. Maximal yield of PHB on glucose could reach 0.36 g g-1
glucose at 0.075 h-1 of dilution rate with relatively high PHB
productivity of 1.23 g l-1h-1 and PHB content of 72.1%.
Santhanam and Sasidharan (2010) screened the effect of
different nutrient conditions on production of PHA by Alcaligens
eutrophus, Alcaligens latus and Pseudomonas oleovorans
and characterized. The influence of different carbon sources on PHA
production showed that, medium with glucose as carbon source produced the
maximum PHA content of 4.14 g/l from A. eutrophus.
P. oleovorans produced 2.06 g/l
from n-octane as carbon source. The functional groups of the extracted PHA
granules were identified as C=O group by fourier
transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy analysis. Biodegrability
studies showed that, the PHA produced is degradable by a number of soil
microbes making it an ideal environmentally friendly material for regular human
use.
Haas et al. (2008) showed that saccharified
starch can be used as a viable alternative carbon source in high cell density
PHB production. Using Ralstonia eutropha NCIMB 11599 with phosphate
limitation, 179 g/l biomass, 94 g/l PHB, Ybiomass/starch
= 0.46 g/g, YPHB/starch = 0.33 g/g, and PHB productivity = 1.47 g/
(l*h) were achieved. Residual maltose accumulated in the fed-batch reactor but
caused no noticeable inhibition. Performance with saccharified
starch was virtually identical to that with glucose.
Naheed et al. (2012) carried out
research was conducted to check the cane molasses as a media for the production
of polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB). Out of the 54 bacteria isolated from three
types of organic waste contaminated environments, two were selected for their
highest intensity of fluorescence under UV by Nile blue A
viable colony staining method and they produced maximum amount of PHB from
glucose (66.61±0.05% and 76.92±0.04%) in a shake flask culture at pH 7.0, 37°C
and 150 rpm. The
best growth and polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA)
production was observed in media with 2% molasses and 0.2% ammonium sulphate in
mineral medium.
Fernanda et al. (2006) studied among a wide
variety of polyhydroxyalkanoates, bacterial
biodegradable polymers known as potential substitutes for conventional
plastics. This work aimed at evaluating the use of enzymes to recover and
purify the PHB produced by Ralstonia eutropha DSM545. Screening
experiments allowed the selection of trypsin, bromelain and lysozyme among six
enzymes, based on their efficiency in lysing cells of
a non-PHB producing R. eutropha
strain. The best result was
achieved with 2.0% of bromelain (enzyme mass per biomass),
equivalent to 14.1 U ml−1, at 50 °C and pH 9.0,
resulting in 88.8% PHB purity.
Yoga et al. (2010) discussed
economical strategies to reduce production costs of PHA as well as its
applications in various fields as the selections of suitable bacterial strains,
inexpensive carbon sources, efficient fermentation and recovery processes are
important aspects that should be taken into consideration for the
commercialization of PHA.
Boonsawang and Thongchai (2008) optimized polyhydroxyalkanoate
production from palm oil fiber by Ralstonia
eutropha using response surface methodology. The
effects of propionic acid, butyric acid, (NH4)2SO4
and K2HPO4 addition were examined. The result showed that
the nutrient optimum for PHA production was fermented broth with nutrient
addition (2.50 g/l propionic acid, 6.53 g/l butyric
acid, 1.53 g/l, (NH4)2SO4 and 0.03 g/l K2HPO4). The cell concentration, PHA
concentration, and PHA content were 1.53 g/l, 0.70 g/l and 46.5%, respectively.
Ramadas et al. (2009) have done optimization studies on production of Poly (β- hydroxyl)
butyrate using Central Composite Design. They have optimized three parameters
namely inoculum age, pH and substrate concentration. On the basis of
results obtained from “one variable at a time” experiment, inoculum
age, jackfruit seed hydrolysate concentration, and pH
were selected for response surface methodology studies. Analysis of variance exhibited
a high coefficient of determination (R2) value of 0.910 and 0.928
for biomass and PHB concentration, respectively, and ensured that the quadratic
model with the experimental data was a satisfactory one. The data used in our
wok was taken from this paper and further optimized using Artificial Neural
Networks and Simulated Annealing.
Chisti et al. (1999) have studied fermentation optimization for the production of poly (b-hydroxybutyric acid) microbial thermoplastic. Batch culture
of Alcaligenes latus
was investigated for producing the intracellular bioplastic
poly (β-hydroxybutyric acid) (PHB).A central,
composite experimental design (RSM) was used to optimize the productivity of
PHB. Investigated were the effects of temperature, the initial culture pH, the
ionic strength of the medium, the concentration of trace elements, the type of
nitrogen source, and the carbon-to-nitrogen ratio. The optimal temperature for
growth and PHB synthesis appeared to be 33°C; an initial pH value of 6.5 gave
the best results. Typical culture characteristics were: 0.075/h maximum
specific growth rate, 0.38 g/l h maximum specific sucrose consumption rate and
0.15 g/l h maximum specific PHB production rate.
Shahhoseini and et al. (2003) worked
on “Simulation and Model Validation of Batch PHB producton
process using Ralstonia eutropha”.
They have used Mulchandani Kinetic model using
MATLAB for optimization of the yield.
Synthesis of bioplastics:
It is possible to make biodegradable plastics
from sugars and organic acids using bacteria. One procedure is similar to the
fermentation process, that produces ethyl alcohol,
except that the bacteria used. Alcaligenes eutrophus, converts feed material into plastic material
known as polyhydroxybutyrate-valerate, or PHBV. The bacteria accumulates the PHVB as a store of energy in the
same way that animals and humans accumulate fat. When the bacteria have
accumulated up to 80% of their dry body weight as PHVB, the cells are burst
open with steam and the plastic is collected. The product is reported to have
been made by Imperial Chemical Industries, Ltd. In Great Britain at a cost of
$15 a pound, compared to less than a $1 a pound for common plastics.
How is PLA made ?
Lactic acid can be produced by two different
routes. By petrochemical feed stock and fermentation. The most popular route is
fermentation in which corn starch is converted into lactic acid by bacterial
fermentation using a optimized stains of genus
lactobacillus.
The starting material
for poly lactic acid is starch from a renewable resource such as corn.
Corn is milled , which separates starch from the raw
material. Unrefined dextrose is then processed
from the starch. Dextrose is turned into lactic acid using fermentation, similar
to that used by beer and wine producers. Turning the lactic acid into a polymer
plastic takes some specialized chemistry. Through a chemical process
called condensation, Two lactic acid molecules are
converted into one cyclic molecule called lactide. This
lactide is purified through vaccum
distillation. A solvent free melt process causes the ring shaped lactide polymers to open and join end to end to form long
chain polymers. A wide range of products that vary in molecular weight and crystallinity can be produced allowing the poly lactic acid
to be modified for a variety of applications Materials such as a polyhydroxy
alkanoate (PHA) biopolymer are completely compostable in an
industrial compost facility. Polylactic acid (PLA)
is another 100% compostable biopolymer which can fully degrade above 60C in an
industrial composting facility. Fully biodegradable plastics are more
expensive, partly because they are not widely enough produced to achieve large economies of scale.
Certain additives when
added to conventional plastics attract the microbes to the molecular structure
by allowing the hydrocarbons to be sensed once again by microbial colonies.
When oil is in the ground, the microbes attach themselves onto the hydrocarbons
consuming the oil and creating natural gas, 50% of which is methane gas. When
the oil is cracked 4% is used for the plastic industry, if the plastic industry
did not use this 4% the 4% would be considered waste and be thrown away or
removed and dumped into a waste disposal facility, another 4% is used in the
generation of your consumer product. During this phase of cracking the organic
compound which attracts the microbes to the molecular structure of the plastic
is burnt out. The organic compound which is burnt out and other proprietary
compounds which increase quorum sensing of the microbes and pH balance for the
microbes are placed into the molecular structure of the plastic, to create a
plastic product that can biodegrade 100 times faster than normal plastic.
Bacteria used for production of
various kinds of PHA:
|
Strains |
PHA type |
Substrates |
PHA content (wt %) |
|
Alcaligenes latus
DSM
1124 |
P(3HB) |
Soya waste, malt waste |
33, 71 |
|
Bacillus megaterium |
P(3HB) |
Beet molasses, date syrup |
~50 |
|
Burkholderia sp. USM (JCM 15050) |
P(3HB) |
Palm oil derivatives, fatty acids, glycerol |
22- 70 |
|
Comamonas testosteroni |
MCL-PHA |
Castor oil, coconut oil, mustard oil, cottonseed oil,
groundnut oil, olive oil, sesame oil |
79-88 |
|
Cupriavidus necator |
P(3HB) |
Bagasse hydrolysates |
54 |
|
Cupriavidus necator
H16 |
P(3HB-co-3HV) |
Crude palm kernel oil, olive oil, sunflower oil, palm
kernel oil, cooking oil, palm olein, crude palm
oil, coconut ,oil + sodium propionate |
65-90 |
|
Cupriavidus necator
DSM
545 |
P(3HB) |
Waste glycerol |
50 |
|
Recombinant Cupriavidus
necator |
P(3HB-co-3HHx) |
Palm kernel oil, palm olein,
crude palm oil, palm acid oil |
40-90 |
|
Recombinant Escherichia coli |
P(3HB-co- 3HHx-co-3HO) |
Soybean oil |
6 |
|
Pseudomonas aeruginosa IFO3924 |
mcl PHA |
Palm oil |
39 |
|
Pseudomonas aeruginosa NCIB 40045 |
mcl PHA |
Waste frying oil |
29 |
|
Pseudomonas guezennei biovar. tikehau |
mcl PHA |
Coprah oil |
63 |
|
Thermus thermophilus
HB8 |
P(3HV-co- 3HHp-co-3HN- co-3HU) |
Whey |
36 |
Plastic
Types:
Based on the constituents present bioplastics are classified as follows
·
Starch based plastics:
Constituting
about 50 percent of the bioplastics market,
thermoplastic starch, such as Plastarch Material,
currently represents the most important and widely used bioplastic.
Pure starch possesses the characteristic of being able to absorb humidity and
is thus being used for the production of drug capsules in the pharmaceutical
sector.
·
Polylactic acid (PLA) plastics: Polylactic acid (PLA) is a
transparent plastic produced from cane sugar or glucose. It resembles
conventional petrochemical mass plastics (like PE or PP) in its
characteristics. PLA and PLA-Blends generally come in the form of granulates
with various properties and are used in the plastic processing industry for the
production of foil, moulds, tins, cups, bottles and other packaging.
·
Poly-3-hydroxybutyrate
(PHB): The
biopolymer poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) is polyester produced by certain
bacteria processing glucose or starch. Its characteristics are similar to those
of the petroplastic polypropylene. It produces
transparent film at a melting point higher than 130 degrees Celsius, and is
biodegradable without residue.
·
Polyamide 11 (PA 11): PA 11 is a biopolymer
derived from natural oil. It is also known under the trade name Rilsan B, commercialized by Arkema.
PA 11 belongs to the technical polymers family and is not biodegradable. It is
used in high-performance applications like automotive fuel lines, electrical
cable anti-termite sheathing, flexible oil & gas pipes, sports shoes, and
electronic device components.
·
Bio-derived
polyethylene: The basic building block (monomer) of polyethylene is ethylene.
Bio-derived polyethylene is chemically and physically identical to traditional
polyethylene - it does not biodegrade but can be recycled. It can also
considerably reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
·
Genetically modified bioplastics: Genetic modification (GM) is also a challenge
for the bioplastics industry. None of the currently available bioplastics
- which can be considered first generation products - require the use of GM
crops
Table 1: Major companies in Bioplastics
production
|
Product |
Company |
Location |
Capacity (tonnes) |
Price, $/lb |
|
PLA |
Nature Works |
US |
140,000 |
0.85-1.20 |
|
PLA |
Hisun |
China |
5,000 |
1.25 |
|
PHAs |
Metabolix |
US |
300/50,000 (2010) |
2.50-2.75 |
|
PHBV |
Tianan |
China |
2,000 |
2.40-2.50 |
|
Mater-Bi |
Novamont |
EU |
75,000 |
2.0-3.0 |
|
Cereplast |
Cereplast |
US |
25,000 |
1.50 2.50 |
|
Others |
DuPont, Plantic, Innovia, Arkema & others |
Global |
2,000 |
1.50 4.00 |
Degradable plastic:
An oil-based plastic containing a chemical additive that
undergoes significant change in its chemical structure causing it to break down
into smaller particles. The degradation process is triggered only when material
is exposed to specific environmental conditions (such as UV, heat and moisture).
Residues are not food matter for microorganisms and are not biodegradable or
compostable. There are five different kinds of degradable plastic:
·
Biodegradable
·
Compostable
·
Hydro-biodegradable
·
Photo-degradable and
·
Bioerodable.
These can be either organically based from renewable resources or
synthetic with a
petroleum base.
Biodegradable plastic:
A degradable plastic,
in which the degradation must result from the action of naturally
occurring microorganisms over a period of time (up to 2-3years in a landfill).
Compostable plastic:
A plastic that undergoes biological degradation during the composting
process (up to 2-3 months in a windrow) to yield carbon dioxide, water,
inorganic compounds and biomass at a rate consistent with other known compostable
materials and leaves no visually distinguishable or toxic residues
Hydro-biodegradable:
These plastics contain additives that are
degraded under the moisture conditions. The end result is
converted to carbon dioxide (CO2), water (H2O) and
biomass.
Photo-degradable
:
Photo-degradable
plastics -conventional plastics with photo-degradable additives that are
degraded under the sunlight
Bioerodible:
Bioerodible polymers which
degrade completely into nontoxic residues over a clinically useful period of time,
including polyanhydrides, polyorthoesters,
polyglycolic acid, polylactic
acid, and copolymers thereof, are used for the delivery of bioactive agents,
including antibiotics, chemotherapeutic agents, inhibitors of angiogenesis, and
simulators of bone growth, directly into bone.
Biodegradability
of Bioplastics:
In a biological system, PHBs can be degraded using microbial depolymerase as well as by non enzymatic and enzymatic
hydrolysis in animal tissue. The biodegradability of a polymer is governed primarily
by its physical and chemical properties. It has been found that low molecular
weight PHAs are more susceptible to biodegradation. The melting temperature is
another important factor to be considered. As the melting point increases, the
biodegradability decreases with the increases in melting temperature, the
enzymatic degradability decreases. Biodegradation of solid polymers is also
influenced by chemical structure (especially functional groups and hydrophobicity - hydrophilicity
balance) and highly ordered structures (mainly crystallinity,
orientation and morphological properties). Highly ordered structures have lower
biodegradability. In addition the microbial population in a given environment
and the temperature also contribute to the biodegradability in the polymer (Tokiwa and Calabia, 2004).
Methods of degradation:
Chemical degradation:
The Polymer Energy system uses catalytic pyrolysis to efficiently convert plastics (primarily polyolefins) into crude oil. Conversion process takes place
in reactors provided. The reactors are provided with catalyst and molten metal.
Catalysts are used for reducing or speed up the actual process. Molten metal is
used for maintaining high temperature in the reactor. Depolymerisation
process takes place in the process. In this process the pressed plastic wastes
were placed in the reactor at high temperature. At high temperatures polymer
chains of the plastics are breakdown there taking depolymerisation
process. The depolymerisation process will takes
place in one reactor and the exhaust of one reactor is in gaseous state
and these were condensed in condensate reactor and the final product which is
in liquid state are stored in thermally insulated storage tanks and forwarded
to refineries for further proccessings.
Thermal
degradation:
Thermal degradation of
polymers is molecular deterioration as a result of overheating. At high
temperatures the components of the long chain backbone of the polymer can begin
to separate (molecular scission) and react with one another to change the
properties of the polymer. Thermal
degradation can present an upper limit to the service temperature of
plastics as much as the possibility of mechanical property loss. Indeed unless
correctly prevented, significant thermal
degradation can occur at temperatures much lower than those at which
mechanical failure is likely to occur. The chemical reactions involved in
thermal degradation lead to physical and optical property changes relative to
the initially specified properties. Thermal
degradation generally involves changes to the molecular (and molecular weight distribution) of the polymer and typical property changes include
reduced ductility and embrittlement, chalking, color
changes, cracking, general reduction in most other desirable physical
properties.
Photo degradation:
Photo degradation is degradation of a photodegradable molecule caused by the
absorption of photons, particularly those wavelengths found in sunlight, such as infrared radiation, visible light, and
ultraviolet light. However, other forms of electromagnetic
radiation can cause photo degradation. Photo degradation includes photo dissociation,
the breakup of molecules into smaller pieces by photons. It also includes the
change of a molecule's shape to make it irreversibly altered, such as the denaturing of proteins, and the
addition of other atoms or molecules. A common photo degradation reaction is oxidation. This
type of photo degradation is used by some drinking water and wastewater facilities to destroy
pollutants.
Role of
additive:
d2w® turns ordinary plastic
at the end of its useful life into a material with a completely different
molecular structure. At that stage it is no longer a plastic. It has become a
material which can be bio-assimilated in the open environment in the same way
as a leaf.
d2w® is an
additive technology that is included in the basic polymer resin during the
manufacturing process. It breaks the molecular chains after a pre-determined
lifespan.
All plastics will eventually become embrittled, and will fragment and be bioassimilated,
but the difference made by Symphony’s d2w® technology is that the process is accelerated.
Biodegradable plastics:
Biodegradable
plastics are plastics that will decompose in natural aerobic (composting) and anaerobic (landfill) environments. Biodegradation of plastics can be achieved by
enabling microorganisms in the environment to metabolize the molecular structure of plastic films to produce an inert humus-like material
that is less harmful to the environment. They may be composed of either bioplastics, which are plastics
whose components are derived from renewable raw materials, or petroleum-based
plastics which utilize an additive. The use of bio-active compounds compounded
with swelling agents ensures that, when combined with heat and moisture, they
expand the plastic's molecular structure and allow the bio-active compounds to
metabolize and neutralize the plastic.
Composting the wastes:
Compost may be the key to maximizing the real environmental benefit of
biodegradable plastics. One of the big impediments to composting our organic
waste is that it is so mixed up with non-degradable plastic packaging that it
is uneconomic to separate them. Consequently, the entire mixed waste-stream
ends up in landfill. By ensuring that biodegradable plastics are used to
package all our organic produce, it may well be possible in the near future to
set up large-scale composting lines in which packaging and the material it
contains can be composted as one. The resulting compost could be channeled into
plant production, which in turn might be redirected into growing the starch to
produce more biodegradable plastics. With intelligent use, these new plastics have
the potential to reduce plastic litter, decrease the quantities of plastic
waste going into landfills and increase the recycling of other organic
components that would normally end up in landfills. Whilst several
biodegradable plastics are used for these applications worldwide, the current
market penetration is low.
Applications:
Biodegradable bioplastics
are used for disposable items, such as packaging and catering items (crockery,
cutlery, pots, bowls, and straws). Biodegradable bioplastics
are also often used for organic waste bags, which can be composted together
with the food or green waste. Some trays and containers for fruit, vegetables,
eggs and meat, bottles for soft drinks and dairy products and blister foils for
fruit and vegetables are manufactured from bioplastics.
Non-disposable applications include mobile
phone casings, carpet fibers, and car interiors, fuel line and plastic pipe
applications, and new electro active bioplastics are
being developed that can be used to carry electrical current. In these areas,
the goal is not biodegradability, but to create items from sustainable
resources.
Biodegradable plastics are a new generation of polymers emerging in the
market. Biodegradable plastics have an expanding range of potential
applications, and are driven by the growing use of plastics in packaging and
the perception that biodegradable plastics are 'environmentally friendly',
their use is predicted to increase. However, issues are also emerging regarding
the use of biodegradable plastics and their potential impacts on the
environment and effects on established recycling systems and technologies.
Ideology:
Using genetically modified organisms, we can speed up the process of
degradation of both common as well as biodegradable plastics. By isolating the
gene from a plastic degrading microbe and introducing into a species with a
high copy number such as Escherichia
coli, the population of microbes can be increased rapidly at the site of
degradation, which fastens the process.
CONCLUSION:
The development of bioplastics is best viewed
in the wider context of the "greening" of industrial chemistry. In
future years, it will be largely driven by three factors: the need
to derive more carbon for chemical processes from renewable
substances instead of oil reserves, to develop cleaner chemical
processes, and to avoid perturbing the ecosystem
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Received on 17.09.2014 Accepted
on 30.09.2014
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