The role of waste management in reducing bioplastics’ leakage into the environment: A review

Cucina, Mirko; Nisi, Patrizia De; Tambone, Fulvia; Adani, Fabrizio

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2021.125459

Cited by 82 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 121 publications

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“…Therefore, in particular compostable bioplastics may give a relevant contribution to the reduction of environmental impacts, as they can be disposed together with organic waste. This helps increasing the quality of the compost generated, thus offering a simple waste management and, at the same time, a solution for the collection itself (Cucina et al, 2021).…”

Section: A Special Focus On Bioplastics and Plastic Packagingmentioning

confidence: 99%

The challenge of plastics in a circular perspective

Preka

Fiorentino

Carolis

et al. 2022

Front. Sustain. Cities

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Although plastic is a very important material in our economy and lifestyle, we need to deal with its pervasive impact and the huge amount of plastic waste produced, especially in the urban context. In Italy, the production of plastic waste is about 4.8 million tons with a share of 31.4% sent for recycling, 32.8% sent to Waste to Energy facilities and 35.8% sent to landfill. The negative effects of plastic waste have to be mitigated by means of prevention and other measures aimed at a transition to sustainable production and consumption patterns. The presented perspective takes advantage of the work done in the framework of the Italian Circular Economy Stakeholders Platform (ICESP) and identifies regulatory and technical criticalities in the sector, while defining strategic actions to be implemented along the entire value chain of plastics in the short, medium and long term perspective, with the aim of outlining possible mitigation solutions. From the snapshot of the ongoing advancement of the circular economy in the plastic sector, within the Italian urban context, suggestions can be gained for a strategy based on a systemic life cycle approach.

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Section: A Special Focus On Bioplastics and Plastic Packagingmentioning

confidence: 99%

The challenge of plastics in a circular perspective

Preka

Fiorentino

Carolis

et al. 2022

Front. Sustain. Cities

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“…It is also termed biotic degradation and can be enhanced or started after some initial abiotic degradation processes occur, and finally it leads to a reduced environmental persistence of bioplastics in comparison with plastics (Emadian et al, 2017). Bioplastics are expected to degrade in natural environments in a few years (Cucina et al, 2021a), in comparison to other plastics that will require hundreds/thousands of years (Chamas et al, 2020). However, recent literature revealed that the claims of biodegradability can be ambiguous if further information regarding the timeframe, the conditions necessary for biodegradation and the level of biodegradation are not provided (Bátori et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This was mainly because composting and related operations, i.e., transportation, are energy-requiring processes. In the light of this, other strategies should be investigated for bioplastics end-of-life treatments in order to meet the principles of the Circular Economy, i.e., material recovery and/or bioenergy production (Cucina et al, 2021a). Anaerobic digestion (AD), which is the anaerobic conversion of organic matter into an energy-rich gas mixture (biogas) and an organic fertilizer (digestate) appears to be a promising disposal strategy for bioplastics.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Degradation of biodegradable bioplastics under thermophilic anaerobic digestion: A full-scale approach

Cucina

Carlet

Nisi

et al. 2022

Journal of Cleaner Production

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“…Both approaches aimed at reducing Polymers 2022, 14, 2337 2 of 21 their environmental impact from their origin to their end-of-life in a context based on the transition toward a more sustainable model inside a circular economy paradigm [2]. Within this context, biopolymers, defined as either bio-based or biodegradable polymers, are called to become the materials of the future to substitute commodities in a wide range of applications [3][4][5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

In Service Performance of Toughened PHBV/TPU Blends Obtained by Reactive Extrusion for Injected Parts

et al. 2022

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Moving toward a more sustainable production model based on a circular economy, biopolymers are considered as one of the most promising alternatives to reduce the dependence on oil-based plastics. Polyhydroxybutyrate-co-valerate (PHBV), a bacterial biopolyester from the polyhydroxialkanoates (PHAs) family, seems to be an attractive candidate to replace commodities in many applications such as rigid packaging, among others, due to its excellent overall physicochemical and mechanical properties. However, it presents a relatively poor thermal stability, low toughness and ductility, thus limiting its applicability with respect to other polymers such as polypropylene (PP). To improve the performance of PHBV, reactive blending with an elastomer seems to be a proper cost-effective strategy that would lead to increased ductility and toughness by rubber toughening mechanisms. Hence, the objective of this work was the development and characterization of toughness-improved blends of PHBV with thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) using hexamethylene diisocyanate (HMDI) as a reactive extrusion agent. To better understand the role of the elastomer and the compatibilizer, the morphological, rheological, thermal, and mechanical behavior of the blends were investigated. To explore the in-service performance of the blends, mechanical and long-term creep characterization were conducted at three different temperatures (−20, 23, 50 °C). Furthermore, the biodegradability in composting conditions has also been tested. The results showed that HMDI proved its efficiency as a compatibilizer in this system, reducing the average particle size of the TPU disperse phase and enhancing the adhesion between the PHBV matrix and TPU elastomer. Although the sole incorporation of the TPU leads to slight improvements in toughness, the compatibilizer plays a key role in improving the overall performance of the blends, leading to a clear improvement in toughness and long-term behavior.

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The role of waste management in reducing bioplastics’ leakage into the environment: A review

Cited by 82 publications

References 121 publications

The challenge of plastics in a circular perspective

The challenge of plastics in a circular perspective

Degradation of biodegradable bioplastics under thermophilic anaerobic digestion: A full-scale approach

In Service Performance of Toughened PHBV/TPU Blends Obtained by Reactive Extrusion for Injected Parts

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