How to Think About Bioplastics and

Protecting the Environment

Fiona Rioux
 Plastics and the Environment

Bioplastics: made from renewable resources

(cellulose and starch)

Petro-plastics: made from oil; most common.

Life Cycle Assessment: judging the ultimate impact

of plastics
 How are they manufactured?

Bioplastics Petro-plastics
• Cost more • Cost less
• Few facilities • Many more facilities; much more
• Take long time to common
manufacture • Oil that is required for most
• Take extra energy to grow, plastics is easy to process
harvest, and process the bio because of infrastructure already
material in place
• Currently, few uses • Currently, many more uses
• BUT: THEY DEGRADE IN THE • BUT: THEY ARE IN THE EARTH
EARTH QUICKLY FOREVER
 What do you think?
Would You Make This Out of a Bioplastic?

Packing materials? YES, not too demanding for bioplastics and can be
compostable

Football helmet? NO, bioplastics not strong enough

Dinner fork? YES, bioplastic doesn’t need to be super strong and

used only once
Cooking spatula? NO, bioplastics do not tend to be heat resistant enough

Car Bumper? NO, bioplastic tend not to be durable enough for years n
outdoors on a car
Disposal Options

Disposal Method PETRO PLASTIC BIO PLASTIC

RECYCLING SYSTEMS
RECYCLING GOOD ! NOT READY

OK, Not Ideal MIGHT CREATE METHANE

LANDFILL GAS AIR POLLUTION

COMPOSTING MOSTLY NOT PRODUCTIVE GOOD !

INCINERATION WITH NOT ENOUGH ENERGY IN

GOOD FOR CORRECT PLASTICS
ENERGY REOVERY BIOPLASTIC
To Sum Up…

 Not all bioplastic products are ‘good;’ not all petro-plastics are ‘bad.’

 Consider the whole life cycle:

 Manufacturing considerations
 Appropriate uses
 Disposal Methods

 Bioplastic technology is new, but holds so much promise!

Remembering What You’ve Learned
Compared with petro-plastics, bioplastics:

A. Tend to cost more

B. Tend to cost less
C. Are about the same
 Which of these would be good candidates for
being made out of a bioplastic and why?

Cooking spatula

Eating fork
Fiona, this is too easy!
Packing material

Football helmet

Car Bumper
 Disposal Options: True or False?

Recycling is a good way of disposing of a petro-plastics.

If methane gas is generated in the disposal of a plastic,

that is always a good thing.

Composting is a good way of disposing of a bioplastic.

Incineration (burning) of certain plastics and recovering the energy

can make sense if it is done properly.
 References

 Bioplastics and Petroleum-based Plastics: Strengths and Weaknesses, F. Gironi,

V. Piemonte 2011

 Assessment of the Impacts of Bioplastics: Energy Usage, Fossil Fuel Usage,

Pollution, Health Effects, Effects on the Food Supply, and Economic Effects
Compared to Petroleum Based Plastics, Brian Momani 2009

 Biodegradable and compostable alternatives to conventional plastics, J. H.

Song, R. J. Murphy, R. Narayan, and G. B. H. Davie 2009

 Bioplastic Based on Starch and Cellulose Nanocrystals from Rice Straw, Melissa B
Agustin, Bashir Ahmmad, Shanna Marie M Alonzo and Famille M Patriana 2014