REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

Plastics

Plastic is a word that initially signified "flexible and effectively molded". It just as of late

turned into a name for a classification of materials called polymers. Polymers possess large

amounts of nature. Cellulose, the material that makes up the cell dividers of plants, is an

exceptionally normal common polymer. Over the most recent century and a half people have

figured out how to make manufactured polymers, now and again utilizing regular substances like

cellulose, yet more frequently utilizing the abundant carbon particles gave by oil and other non-

renewable energy sources. Manufactured polymers are comprised of long chains of molecules,

organized in rehashing units, regularly any longer than those found in nature. It is the length of

these chains, and the examples in which they are exhibited, that make polymers solid, lightweight,

and adaptable. As it were, it's what makes them so plastic. These properties make engineered

polymers particularly helpful, and since we figured out how to make and control them, polymers

have turned into a fundamental piece of our lives. Particularly finished the most recent 50 years

plastics have immersed our reality and changed the way that we live. (Robert,2017).

However, one survey suggested that the plastics industry was responsible for about 1.5%

of all US energy consumption. As oil runs out, and the use of fossil fuels becomes increasingly

expensive, the need for replacement sources of raw material for the manufacture of vital plastics

becomes increasingly urgent. In addition, the use of carbon-based sources of energy for use in

plastics manufacturing adds greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, impeding the world’s attempts

to cut CO2 emissions. (Whalen, 2011). In addition, the world has delivered more than nine billion
tons of plastic since the 1950s. 165 million tons of it have destroyed our sea, with very nearly 9

million more tons entering the seas every year. Since just around 9 percent of plastic gets reused,

a significant part of the rest contaminates the earth or sits in landfills, where it can take up to 500

years to decay while draining harmful chemicals into the ground (Cho,2017).

Bioplastics

A bioplastic is a plastic that is made incompletely or entirely from polymers got from

natural sources, for example, sugar stick, potato starch or the cellulose from trees, straw and cotton.

Some bioplastics debase in the outdoors, others are made with the goal that they compost in a

mechanical treating the soil plant, helped by organisms, microorganisms and compounds. Others

emulate the vigor and toughness of ordinary plastics, for example, polyethylene or PET.

Bioplastics can be specifically substituted for their oil-based identical. To be sure, they can for the

most part be made to be artificially indistinguishable to the standard modern plastics (Whalen,

2011).

Likewise, an article from Mbeh (2017) stated that Bioplastic is a plastic substance that is

based on organic biomass rather than petroleum. There are many uses of bioplastics especially in

consumer products such as food containers, grocery bags, biodegradable utensils, and food

packaging. Also, Bioplastics are most as often as possible utilized as a part of bundling, in spite of

the fact that bioplastics could conceivably be utilized as a part of any way that general plastics are

utilized. The execution attributes of bioplastics and petrochemical plastics are fundamentally the

same as (Grabianowski, nd). Bioplastics are driving the evolution of plastics. There are two major

advantages of biobased plastic products compared to their conventional versions: they save fossil

resources by using biomass which regenerates (annually) and provides the unique potential of
carbon neutrality. Furthermore, biodegradability is an add-on property of certain types of

bioplastics. Bioplastics also have potentially much lower carbon footprint, lower energy costs in

manufacturing, do not use scarce crude oil and reduction in litter and improved compostability

from using biodegradable bioplastics. It offers additional means of recovery at the end of a

product’s life. Relatively, the benefits of using bioplastics leads to smaller energy footprint and

less polluted ecosystem as well as the fact that bioplastics don’t contain bisphenol A (BPA), a

common chemical for commercial plastics. It is affirmed that BPA can break hormonal activity.

(Mbeh, 2017).

Edible Food Packaging

There are several approaches that aim to solve the plastic problem such food-based

packaging and plastic rather than all packaging and plastic as a larger concept. Similarly, we can

also increase the percentage of compostable and/or biodegradable materials used in our packaging

and containers. But there are potential issues with both of these solutions. Recycling has a high

energetic cost in itself in terms of sorting and transportation, and many case studies have found

that it costs significantly more than landfill disposal. If these programs are well maintained and

there is very little recycling material going into a landfill, then these programs can eventually be

effective. However, Austin Resource Recovery has found that even within Austin, 40% of

materials that can be recycled are not properly disposed of, sending unnecessary waste to landfills.

In these situations, recycling processes are actually significantly expensive and do not offset their

cost with their benefits. (Munir, nd).

 Based on the study authored by Munir (nd), it can be inferred that the most eco-friendly

method is to not generate any food related waste in the first place. Reusable containers are not an

easy solution to implement in today’s world, as can be seen by the relative inefficiencies of

packaging free grocery stores. Furthermore, there are always end of life issues with reusables, as

so many of them are already plastic based and not properly recycled.