Bioplastic

Bio plastics are a form of plastics derived from plant sources such as hemp oil, soy bean oil and
corn starch rather than traditional plastics which are derived from petroleum. This is generally regarded as
a more sustainable activity, as it relies less on fossil fuel imports and produces less greenhouse emissions.
However, manufacturing of bio plastic materials is not benign. Energy, which is most often derived from
fossil fuels, is used to power farm machinery, to irrigate growing crops, to produce fertilisers and
pesticides, to transport crops and crop products to processing plants, to extract the processible
biomaterials, and ultimately to produce the bio plastic.

Bioplastics and biodegradation

Terminology used in the bio plastics sector is quite confusing. Most in the industry use the term bio
plastic to mean a plastic produced from a biological - and hence renewable and potentially sustainable -
source. Cellulose film, for instance, is one of the oldest plastics. It is, and has always has been, made from
wood cellulose and is fully biodegradable in its natural form. The wood it is made from can be sourced
from commercially managed forestry. Innovia is one of the major producers of cellulose film - some
of which it markets as biodegradable.
Many bio plastics are biodegradable, meaning they can be degraded by microbes under
suitable conditions. Some bio plastics will biodegrade in the relatively cool conditions of a home compost
heap. Most will only degrade in the hotter and more tightly controlled conditions of commercial
composting units. While many bio plastics are
biodegradable, some are not - referred to as durable. And to make the situation even more complex, some
petrochemical-based plastics are biodegradable. The Ecoflex range of biodegradable plastics
manufactured by BASF of Germany is an example of this type. This material is used as an additive to
improve the performance of many commercial bio plastics.
There is an internationally agreed
standard that defines how quickly and to what extent a biodegradable plastic must be degraded under
commercial composting conditions - EN13432.This is published by the International Organisation for
Standardization ISO and is recognised in many countries, including all of Europe, Japan and the US.
However, it is designed only for the aggressive conditions of commercial composting units. There is no
standard applicable to home composting conditions. The term biodegradable plastic is
often also used by producers of specially modified petrochemical-based plastics which appear to
biodegrade. A little explanation is needed here. Traditional plastics such as polyethylene are degraded by
ultra-violet light and oxygen. To stop this process, and to make the plastics usable, manufacturers add
stabilisation chemicals. By adding a controlled amount of degradation initiator to the plastic it is possible
to achieve a controlled disintegration process driven by the ultra-violet light in sunlight or by atmospheric
oxygen. The North American company EPI is a leading player in this type of additive technology.
This degradation process is highly effective. However, this type of plastic is best referred to as
"degradable plastic" or "oxy-degradable plastic" because the process is not initiated by microbial action.
Some degradable plastics manufacturers argue that, once a certain level of degradation of the plastic has
been achieved, the degraded residue will be attacked by microbes. However, this route has yet to be
proven. In any case, these degradable materials do not meet the requirements of the EN13432 commercial
composting standard.

Certification

Adding the prefix "bio-", misrepresenting a plastic compound as biodegradable, or confusing product
labelling has become commonplace lately. Several certification schemes have therefore been set up based
on the EN 13 432 industrial norm and the French NF U52001 norm, products made out any raw plastic
material pretending to be biodegradable, are tested as to their true and biodegradability and
compostability. Consumer products and packaging which passed the tests prescribed in the testing
protocol laid down in these norms, may carry a special label. So far starch based plastics, PLA based
plastics and certain aliphatic-aromatic co-polyester compounds such as succinates and adipates, have
obtained these certificates. Additivated plastics sold as photodegradable, oxobiodegradable have not yet
received these certificates and will probably not be eligible as the additives generally contain heavy
metals such as cobalt and cannot show biodegradation whereby over 90% of the plastic mass is converted
into biomass and subsequently into carbondioxide and water. Due to their photo- or oxo degradation,
these additivated plastics are not suitable for recycling and can only be properly disposed of by
incineration or landfill.

Applications
Packaging
Because of their biological biodegradability, the use of bioplastics is especially popular in the
packaging sector. The use of bioplastics for shopping bags is already very common. After their initial use
they can be reused as bags for organic waste and then be composted. Trays andcontainers for fruit,
vegetables, eggs and meat, bottles for soft drinks and dairy products and blister foils for fruit and
vegetables are also already widely manufactured from bioplastics.

Catering Products
Catering products belong to the group of perishable plastics. Disposable crockery and cutlery, as
well as pots and bowls, pack foils for hamburgers and straws are being dumped after a single use,
together with food-leftovers, forming huge amounts of waste, particularly at big events. The use of
bioplastics offers significant advantages not only in an ecological sense but also in an
economical sense.
Non Packaging
Applications outside packaging include mobile phone casings (NEC), carpet fibres (Dupont
Sorona), and car interiors (Mazda). The French company, Arkema, produces a grade of bioplastic called
Rilsan, which is being used in fuel line and plastic pipe applications. In these areas, the goal is obviously
not biodegradability, but to create items from sustainable resources.
Plastic Types
Starch based plastics
Constituting about 50 percent of the bioplastics market, thermoplastic starch currently represents
the most important and widely used bioplastic. Pure starch possesses the characteristic of being able to
absorb humidity and is thus being used for the production of drug capsules in the pharmaceutical sector.
Flexibiliser and plasticiser such as sorbitol and glycerine are added so that starch can also be processed
thermo-plastically. By varying the amounts of these additives, the characteristic of the material can be
tailored to specific needs (also called "thermo-plastical starch").
Polylactide acid (PLA) plastics
Polylactide acid (PLA) is a transparent plastic made from natural resources. It not only resembles
conventional petrochemical mass plastics (like PE or PP) in its characteristics, but it can also be processed
easily on standard equipment that already exists for the production of conventional plastics. PLA and PLA-
Blends generally come in the form of granulates with various properties and are used in the plastic
processing industry for the production of foil, moulds, tins, cups,
bottles and other packaging.
Poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB)
The biopolymer poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) is a polyester produced from renewable raw
materials. Its characteristics are similar to those of the petrochemical-produced plastic polypropylene.
Interest in PHB is currently very high. Companies worldwide are aiming to either begin production of PHB
or to expand their current production capacity. Some estimate that this
could result in a price reduction to fewer than 5 Euros per kilogram. However, that is still four times the
market price of polyethylene at February 2007. The South American sugar industry, for example, has
decided to expand PHB production to an industrial scale. PHB is distinguished primarily by its physical
characteristics. It produces transparent film at a melting point higher than 130 degrees Celsius, and is
biodegradable without residue.
Polyamide 11 (PA 11)
PA 11 or Nylon 11 is a biopolymer derived from vegetable oil. It is also known under the
tradename Rilsan®. PA 11 belongs to the technical polymers family and is not biodegradable. Its
properties are similar than PA 12 although emissions of greenhouse gases and consumption of non-
renewable resources are reduced during its production. Its thermal resistance is also superior than PA 12.
It is used in high performance applications as automotive fuel lines, pneumatic airbrake tubing, electrical
anti-termite cable sheathing, oil & gas flexible pipes & control fluid umbilicals, sports shoes, electronic
device components, catheters, etc.
Developments
• In the early 1950s, Amylomaize (>50% starch content corn) was successfully bred and
commercial bioplastics applications started to be explored.
• In 2004, NEC developed a flame retardant plastic, polylactic acid, without using toxic
chemicals such as halogens and phosphorus compounds [1].
• In 2005, Fujitsu became one of the first technology company to make personal computer
cases from bioplastics, which are featured in their FMV-BIBLO NB80K line.
• In 2007 Braskem of Brazil announced it had developed a route to manufacture high
density polyethylene (HDPE) using ethylene derived from sugar cane