Two birds with One Plastic
Hopefully the end to toxic plastic ruining ecosystems
As we all know, plastics are a huge burden to the environment and can do irreversible damage, generally the use of plastics creates to two kinds of pollution. The first being from the production of plastics create extensive emissions of greenhouse gases with the heavy use of fossil fuels. The second and more taxing on the habitat, is the plastic waste that is left from the 380 million tons produced annually1. But what if have alternatives to plastic that wouldn’t kill any wildlife and significantly reduce the emissions produced?
Enter bioplastics.
As it states, bioplastics are plastics that are derived from natural materials. By having bioplastics, you have fewer carbon emissions as they absorb carbon dioxide when growing, which offsets the processing emissions. Next they are naturally more biodegradable since they are made from natural ingredients which reduces the biodegradability to 3-6 months compared to 450 + years. Most bioplastics are also recyclable which stimulates a better circular economy. Another benefit of bioplastics, is the fact that they are non-toxic, which means when used in food-safety applications, like packaging, the user does not get harmed with the release of these chemicals, which can have adverse health consequences.
Now bioplastics traditionally have been made from vegetable oils like corn which gets made into PLA (Poly Lactic Acid) which is the most used bioplastic. However, there are a lot more alternatives that don’t rely on critical food sources and come from all parts of nature, so what are they?
Bamboo
Now this one you probably have heard of before, but it still uses traditional plastics. Despite the carbon neutrality of the bamboo fibres, the matrix (which holds the fibres together) is made from epoxy resin (which is made from fossil fuels). There is no doubt that this plastic is better for the environment, but it still isn’t the ideal solution, as it still isn’t 100% natural.
Barking up the right tree
A company called BPack focuses on food packaging and have come up with a rigid plastic that is made primarily from tree bark. They aim to capitalise from the waste produced from the timber and agricultural industries to covert it into biodegradable plastics. They offer a cost effective solution compared to traditional options and it doesn’t release any toxic chemicals. By using waste it creates a circular economy, which, we need more of.
Notpla - Seaweed
Here Notpla aims to revolutionise the single use plastics and takeaway containers industry. With partnering with Just Eat, any paper packaging (that would normally be lined with plastic) is now lined with a thin seaweed plastic. In just 2023 they produced 4.4 million units of plastic free packaging and are quickly diversifying to be placed in other markets and by this, it avoided 250 tonnes of CO2 being released into the atmosphere. They are going for developing packaging that doesn’t last much longer than what its carrying. They predict that only around 0.066% of the oceans are required to replace single use plastics entirely2 and other companies are also following the seaweed bandwagon like Kelpi.
The Fun-gi
Mushroom packaging is another company that aims to reduce plastics and is naturally water resistant too. Its quick prototyping and development means you can get a custom design grown in just 7 days. Although it won’t replace your food containers just yet, it can be used for insulation as well as protective packaging for those fragile items that are often enveloped in layers of toxic plastic3.
Others
There are also a few others in development that offer some promise but haven’t reached the potential these have had so far like4:
Hemp
Shrimp Shells
Avocado Seeds/Pits
But ultimately, these bioplastics will have to work in harmony to replace the plastics we use today. With the wide range of applications, these bioplastic alternatives are mainly focusing on the single use plastics (as they should) but once mastered, there are still a lot of areas that these bioplastics can venture in. Like the wooden satellite and oil spill clean ups from the last few weeks, nature has a lot of gems that we either know or don’t know about which can help us go away from destructive synthetic. So again, can you think of something in nature that can replace some material that is destructive to our ecosystems?
Till next week,
Maxime
Towards a Sustainable Circular Economy: Algae-Based Bioplastics and the Role of Internet-of-Things and Machine Learning - ChemBioEng Reviews
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/cben.202300028#:~:text=PLA%20is%20a%20prospective%20alternative,as%20much%20feedstock%20as%20PLA.
Impact Report 2023 - Notpla
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aYqZZ13VxPVC-tKufD8S30MU5obFv5pY/view
Mushroom Packaging
https://mushroompackaging.com/
Plastic Alternatives 6 Amazing Bioplastics That Are Making Waves - Greenify Me
https://www.greenify-me.com/2023/09/plastic-alternatives-bioplastics.html#:~:text=One%20of%20the%20most%20popular,they%20completely%20dissolve%20in%20water.