Bioplastic

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Bioplastics are seen as the future's promising alternative to plastic. It’s derived from plant-based materials such as corn sugar, potato or sugar cane which should reduce demand for fossil fuels, such as petroleum, to produce conventional plastic.

The main advantages this substitute promises are the reduction of carbon footprint, reduction in non-biodegradable waste during production, and overall reduction in consumption of non-renewable raw materials. This all sounds perfect in theory, but it's much more tricky in application. Surprisingly (or not) not all bio-based plastics are biodegradable* and even if they are, they can only biodegrade within a specific set of environmental qualifications.

Take for example, Polylactic acid or PLA. PLA has been advertised as a better plastic alternative used to make straws as they are quote on quote recyclable, biodegradable and compostable. However, some have stated that PLA is a form of greenwashing as it cannot biodegrade on a beach or in the sea where plastic straws tend to end up. Yet companies charge a higher price for this material claiming “sustainability”. PLA must also be brought to a high temperature industrial composting facility in order to be degraded but very few cities are able to handle such infrastructure facilities. If bioplastics end up in landfills, they will be deprived of oxygen and may release methane, a greenhouse gas 23 times more potent than carbon dioxide, which obviously defeats its sole purpose of being a more environmentally sustainable alternative to petroleum-based plastic.

It’s true that bioplastics are still a much better option than single-use plastic but it is nowhere near the solution it promises to be. In order to gain all the advantages to bioplastics, cities would have to build large specialized industrial composting companies which most countries are not able to fund. If bioplastics aren’t sorted through they will end up being just as polluting as conventional plastic. That's why reducing, reusing and recycling are still the most dependable solutions we have. The future is in our hands so make responsible decisions by reducing your plastic consumption.

Bibliography

Cho, R. (2017, December 13). The Truth About Bioplastics. State of the Planet. https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2017/12/13/the-truth-about-bioplastics/

Gibbens, S. (2018, November 15). What you need to know about plant-based plastics. National geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/are-bioplastics-made-from-plants-better-for-environment-ocean-plastic

Krieger, A. (2019, August 28). Are bioplastics really better for the environment? Read the fine print. GreenBiz. https://www.greenbiz.com/article/are-bioplastics-really-better-environment-read-fine-print

What are bioplastics? (n.d.). Sustainability for all. https://www.activesustainability.com/environment/what-are-bioplastics/

What are bioplastics? (n.d.). european bioplastics. https://www.european-bioplastics.org/bioplastics/