Biodegradable plastics from renewable sources

Abstract

Plastic waste disposal is a huge ecotechnological problem and one of the approaches to solving this problem is the development of biodegradable plastics. This review summarizes data on their use, biodegradability, commercial reliability and production from renewable resources. Some commercially successful biodegradable plastics are based on chemical synthesis (i.e. polyglycolic acid, polylactic acid, polycaprolactone, and polyvinyl alcohol). Others are products of microbial fermentations (i.e. polyesters and neutral polysaccharides) or are prepared from chemically modified natural products (e.g., starch, cellulose, chitin or soy protein).

Biofuel alternatives to ethanol: pumping the microbial well

“…Microbial production of both biodegradable plastics (e.g. PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoate), polylactic acid [85,86]) and non-biodegrad-able plastics (e.g. polythioesters [87]) provides a range of biobased polymers and represents an emerging field.…”

Effect of incorporation of nutraceutical capsule waste of safflower oil in the mechanical characteristics of corn starch films

“…Starch is the most widely employed polysaccharide for film production because it is naturally abundant, present inherent biodegradability, is low cost and has a desirable performance; being corn, it is the commercial starch source most commonly found in the world (Mali et al, 2004). When converted into a biodegradable material, starch is an interesting alternative for synthetic polymers in applications where long-term durability is not needed and rapid degradation is an advantage (Flieger et al, 2003). However, the use of starch is limited as packaging due to low resistance to mechanical stress and sensibility to moisture (Wu et al, 2013).…”

Statistical physical and nutrient optimization of bioplastic polyhydroxybutyrate production by Cupriavidus necator

“…However, there are several attempts to remove toxicity and pollution of water and land (Colak et al 2009(Colak et al , 2011; some research is focusing increasingly on the development of environmental friendly methods (Gupta et al 2013) for the production of eco-friendly materials that combine the desired functionality during use and rapid degradation after disposal as an alternative to conventional nondegradable materials. Bioplastics fit this context and are generated from renewable natural sources and are often biodegradable and nontoxic (Poirier 1999;Flieger et al 2003). They can be produced by biological systems or chemically synthesized from biological materials (Flieger et al 2003).…”