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Published April 6, &#; 44 minute read
Table of Contents:
EcoEnclose is a leading provider of sustainable eCommerce and shipping packaging. We commit to the thorough research, vetting, and consistent improvement of every packaging solution we offer. This resource aims to provide a recent and updated review of the market and the potential of bioplastics as a potential addition to the portfolio of eCommerce packaging materials. eCommerce has increased in the last three years and has brought a comparable demand for packaging.
We published our first comprehensive guide to bioplastics in . So it&#;s time to reassess what&#;s out there!
This resource aims to empower you to be an informed consumer and tackle the following three main topics:
Understanding what biopolymers are on the market.
What questions to ask when sourcing materials.
Making sense of the complex and nuanced use cases of biopolymers.
Matrices 1, 2, and 3 house most of the information researched and found relevant for each material. Use these for ongoing reference. The remainder of this resource focuses on contextualizing these materials into our existing systems and sustainability choices.
Bioplastic is an area of rapid development. Eco-conscious businesses and consumers are eager to find a solution to critical problems that have become front of mind to citizens of the planet: plastic ocean pollution, reliance on fossil fuels as inputs of our packaging, carbon emissions, and landfill waste. In many ways, biopolymers seem like they could be just the right solution to all or many of these problems.
Bio-, biodegradable, compostable have all taken on the similarly confusing and inconclusive nature of the other profitable adjectives of the decade: organic, eco, natural, sustainable, circular, regenerative, etc.
Given my background, it seems like I should be able to understand biopolymers reasonably quickly. I have a degree in environmental sustainability. I have been taught various environmental remediation methods, like wastewater treatment - both industrial and municipal- air emissions management and hazardous waste. I have hands-on experience in waste diversion, zero-waste design, and vermicomposting. I&#;ve managed carbon accounting and greenhouse gas inventories. At EcoEnclose, I research new materials on the market, and how they interact with the waste streams and systems we have in the United States to learn how and if they will play well together. I think about packaging for 40 hours per week, minimum.
And yet.
When researching biopolymers on the market and even the definitions of the term biodegradable (it turns out there are several, with no accurate regulation to defer to), I confess that I found myself (several times) on the floor of my office, limbs sprawled and eyes glazed at the ceiling - attempting to reconcile varying definitions, applicability, use-cases, and reasonable environmental implications.
Not to mention trying to make sense of the more significant question: are these polymers any better than petroleum-based plastics?
Suffice it to say; this was not easy. However, completing this research has reiterated the complexity of the bioplastics world.
All this to say, if you are confused by the bioplastics world, you are not alone. It is incredibly complex, and your confusion points to an important takeaway: these are materials with no existing regulation or impartial authority.
I hope the resource I&#;ve put together, the result of my deep dive into the complexities of this space, is helpful for you. It aims to save you time, build clarity, and help guide your business toward data-driven sustainable packaging decisions.
I welcome all feedback, questions, and suggested additions to this research. Feel free to contact me!
Sarah Quirk
Sustainable Innovations Lead, EcoEnclose
The following biopolymers were researched and reviewed in this resource:
Products not included in this review:
I relied heavily on sourcing information from scientific journals and articles to understand these polymers' scientific properties and use cases. Next, I used this information to fact-check the claims I found, mainly through manufacturers and distributors. See the Bibliography section for a complete list of articles and sources. I then assessed this raw information based on the most relevant questions (framework) EcoEnclose has identified in evaluating materials.
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What is a Bioplastic?
Bioplastic is an umbrella term for plastics that are:
There are two main ways bioplastics on the market are designed: new or drop-in. They describe whether or not the bioplastic formulation is intended to be identical on a molecular level to a fossil-based plastic (drop-in) or represent an entirely new polymer structure altogether (new.)
New formulation
: a unique formulation that does not try to mimic a traditional petroleum-based plastic.Drop-in formulation
: designed to mimic petroleum-based plastic counterparts have the same end-of-life characteristics as the petroleum-based alternatives they mimic.Important Notes:
These points are detailed further in this section and later matrices.
Quadrant 1: Bioplastic does not always mean the plastic is readily biodegradable - this is a common misconception. Bioplastics may be formed from bio-sources, like corn or sugarcane, but designed to be a replica of an existing plastic (like HDPE or LDPE) that&#;s currently petroleum-based, which would have the same end of life strategy - recycling (optimal) or landfill (sub-optimal). Square 1 includes bioplastics which are commonly referred to as drop-in bioplastics - meaning they could be dropped into an existing plastic production process and behave in the same way as petroleum-based plastic, including being recycled.
Examples
: Bio-PE, Bio-PETQuadrant 2: Bioplastics can also be bio-based in feedstock and biodegradable at end-of-life. This quadrant is the subsection that most people think of when considering bioplastics. It is the subsection of bioplastics we would encourage for applications that necessitate composting at the end of life, like food packaging. Ideally, these bioplastics come from net-neutral or net-positive feedstocks to grow and process on a large scale, like algae, mixed food waste, or agricultural residues. Currently, however (as is described at length in future sections), bioplastics in this quadrant are typically grown in ways that are pretty harmful to the planet.
Examples
: PLA, PHA, Cellophane, corn starch foams.Quadrant 3 [the only quadrant in the matrix that does not describe a type of bioplastic]: These are standard, petroleum-based plastics, which are not biodegradable at the end of their life. Both virgin plastics (0% recycled content) and recycled plastics fall into this square. Of course, at EcoEnclose, we put a high value on recycled plastics (specifically post-consumer waste or PCW recycled content) as a feedstock for our poly-based products. However, it would be misleading and irresponsible for us to believe or state that the use of recycled plastics does not require the use of virgin plastics too. To have recycled plastics (at least at this point) means that at one point, we needed virgin plastics to make the materials in the first place.
Examples
: LDPE, PE, PP, PET, r-PET (r- denoting recycled), r-PE, r-PP.Quadrant 4: This is an exciting subset of bioplastics. These polymers derive from petroleum-based sources, not bio-based ones, yet they are technically biodegradable. Their benefit is the ability to break down in suitable environments but is best suited for specific functional requirements for use. People are often surprised to learn that some polymers biodegrade or dissolve much more readily than their bio-derived counterparts.
Examples
: PVOH/PVA (polyvinyl alcohol), PBAT (a chemical commonly used with PLA film to improve flexibility and speed up biodegradation).Back To Top
Biodegradable packaging is not equivalent to compostable packaging. Likewise, packaging can be certified as compostable and still not biodegrade in any natural land or marine environment.
According to the SPC, &#;&#;Biodegradable&#; is a general concept that refers to materials breaking down over unspecified amounts of time, and usually in unspecified environments&#;. we use the term &#;compostable&#; to describe packaging designed for composting as an end-of-life solution.&#;
On the other hand, compostable is a much more specific ability for materials to have to justify. According to the leading certifications for industrial compostability, ASTM D (USA) and EN , the following requirements must be met for a material to be considered compostable.
Packaging deemed &#;compostable&#; does not mean that the material has to add nutrients or value to the resulting compost when it comes to packaging. However, compostable packaging must pass a specified minimum threshold of how much harmful residue is left behind.
Biodegradable asks: would this Poly Mailer degrade over time if it ended up as litter?
Compostable asks: would I use this Poly Mailer to fertilize my garden?
We believe that instead of asking questions such as &#;Is this packaging biodegradable?&#; or &#;Is this packaging compostable?&#; you should rather ask questions that help you determine how the packaging impacts your specific environmental concerns. For example:
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Historically, our stance has been that bioplastics have very little applicability in eCommerce packaging. Why? For many of the same reasons listed below from the Sustainable Packaging Coalition. eCommerce packaging (the packaging that stores and protects products shipped in the mail) is not designed to interact directly with food or naturally-biodegradable materials like organics, food, soil, medications, etc. Hence, we choose to solve for the most common and circular disposal method when designing our packaging - recyclability, not biodegradability.
However, bioplastics offer a unique benefit if we can produce them responsibly. Responsibly, in this case, means designing for ubiquitous biodegradability (versus highly conditional biodegradability) or recyclability.
Foodservice has already shown to be an incredibly promising application of bioplastics, a way to increase the percentage of diversion of food waste from landfills. Another application would be for materials that frequently result in litter on land or marine environments, like food or candy wrappers, straws, Ziploc or grocery bags, plastic pack rings, fishing nets or wires, etc.
Guidance from the Sustainable Packaging Coalition:
SPC is a leading organization in research and innovation for sustainable packaging.
What is the value of compostable packaging?
Best Applications for Compostable Packaging:
What packaging applications should not be compostable?
SPC's Position Against Biodegradable Additives for Petroleum-Based Plastics
&#;To this end, the SPC has evaluated the use of biodegradability additives for conventional petroleum based plastics. The SPC found that these additives do not offer any sustainability advantage, and they may result in additional environmental crucial SPC concludes that these additives should not be used. The SPC takes a formal position against biodegradability additives for conventional petroleum-based plastics.&#;
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Materials Circularity is the number one tenet of our Sustainable Packaging Framework. This circularity requires making materials that can be recycled and, most importantly, sourcing materials made with recycled content. Doing so allows us to be suppliers and demanders of recycled content and participate in a closed-loop system.
Why are we so maniacal about recycled content?
First, items made with recycled content use less energy and resources than those made with virgin content. This fact is true for paper and plastic. According to the U.S. EPA, clean recycled plastic resin generation requires 71 trillion Btu less than the energy required to produce the equivalent tonnage of virgin PET and HDPE resin. The amount of energy saved by recycling PET and HDPE containers, including bottles, in was the equivalent of the annual energy use of 750,000 U.S. homes. The corresponding savings in greenhouse gas emissions were 2.1 million tons of CO 2 equivalents, comparable to taking 360,000 cars off the road. These calculations include the energy required to receive, sort, and transport waste into the raw materials stream.
Second, we have prioritized recycled material goods, specifically those with as much post-consumer waste as possible, so that we can be a market force for recycled material.
Post-industrial content refers to scraps created in a manufacturing facility. Post-industrial waste is fairly clean and pure and, therefore, relatively easy to work with and find markets for production. On the other hand, post-consumer content refers to recycling items that a consumer has already used. Recycled waste generated by your household, companies, restaurants, and so forth are all examples of post-consumer recycled waste.
An MRF (pronounced: murf) is a materials recovery facility. This facility is where curbside recyclable material is received and sorted by a combination of awe-inspiring machines and even more awe-inspiring people. At the end of the MRF line, items are consolidated by commodity type (aluminum, corrugated cardboard, paper, plastic PET bottles, etc.). MRF&#;s &#;traders&#; then look for the price they can get for each commodity type on a given day. This process often means shipping pallets of aluminum or corrugated to a neighboring state. Recycling, therefore, only works if these &#;recycling traders&#; can make money, which only happens if there are eager buyers for these goods.
At the same time, it is crucial to understand that for some materials (such as paper), recycled content (especially post-consumer content) is inherently &#;weaker&#; than virgin material. With our current technologies, each subsequent stage in a material's life (i.e., after a new recycling round) leads to shorter and thinner fibers. Because of this, recycled material isn&#;t feasible today for all possible use cases. However, the impact of these shorter fibers is negligible in almost all eCommerce packaging scenarios.
Because eCommerce packaging is uniquely suited to utilize recycled content, we see an essential role for EcoEnclose to strengthen the demand for recycled inputs. Doing so would make the economics of recycling more appealing to waste management companies and incentivize manufacturers to go above and beyond to find ways to use post-consumer waste in their manufacturing.
By focusing on recycled (particularly post-consumer recycled content) and recyclable packaging, we stay true to our overall commitment to &#;cradle-to-cradle&#; thinking and make thoughtful decisions based on the material's entire lifecycle.
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The product research compiled in this paper - mainly in the form of matrices and charts - will be the most immediately helpful information for readers to apply to decision-making, make sense of the materials on the market, and understand how they may relate to your needs.
However, I would encourage you to begin this process by first thinking deeply about the psychology around bioplastics and your reasons for considering them in your packaging strategy.
Consider both the surface structure and the deep structure of your rationale.
For example, we often hear &#;surface&#; questions:
Let's examine these questions at a deeper level. Then, we can start to understand what companies are apprehensive about and trying to solve, such as:
So why are bioplastics an appealing solution for brands in the first place? A few &#;deep&#; reasons come to mind.
It&#;s relevant to dig deeper and name these deep structure reasons because the surface structure questions often do not give us insight into the whole picture. For example, biodegradable plastic may not mean this plastic has no chance of becoming marine plastic pollution. So if your most profound goal is to prevent plastic ocean pollution, start with this in mind.
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Our Analysis
Matrix 1: Landscape of Materials OverviewBack To Top
Terms and Definitions:
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Myth: Bioplastics have a smaller carbon footprint
In Reality: Recycled plastics almost always have a lower carbon footprint than bioplastic equivalents made with virgin materials.
(Source: Trayak- Packaging LCA Software) also referenced here.
When assessing the carbon footprint of packaging materials, the bulk of the footprint typically comes from the beginning of the product's life. These factors are typically:
Bioplastics like PLA require seeding, growing, and cultivating a crop-based feedstock (corn), then production processes to create the polymers themselves. Only then can manufacturing into polymer chains for packaging use happen. Compared to using a preexisting feedstock (recycled plastics), more innate energy is required to produce the equivalent amount of polymer from a crop.
Given that the input materials, production processes, and use of material typically make up 50% or more of the overall carbon footprint of packaging material, we&#;ve chosen to focus on these factors when considering the overall life cycle and carbon footprint of bioplastics.
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Myth: Plastics should biodegrade instead of sticking around for thousands of years if most are going to the landfill anyway.
In Reality: Plastics that biodegrade quickly have a larger carbon footprint than those that biodegrade slowly. Therefore, materials meant for (or likely to be sent to) the landfill should not be biodegradable.
We do not recommend the use of biodegradable additives for eCommerce packaging. They can be confusing for consumers to know to correctly dispose of them, lead to more carbon emissions in the landfill, and contribute to greenwashing.
Landfills are, by nature, an entirely separate ecosystem from their surrounding environment - they do not have the same biology, microorganisms, or chemistry that a compost pile does. They are anaerobic (low in oxygen content). This reality means that as organic products break down without oxygen, they typically result in semi-solid sludge and methane-air emissions. In contrast, organic products like food that biodegrade in an aerobic (oxygen-rich) environment - like a windrow compost pile - can become beneficial biomass and naturally creates carbon dioxide as an emission.
Because methane being produced in high, consistent volumes by decomposing trash in the capped environment of a landfill is unsafe and unstable by nature, the vast majority of landfills are equipped with wells that release these emissions into the atmosphere. These are the giant metal poles that sit atop a landfill. In reality, they are many meters long and drilled into the depths of the interior of the landfill. They have small holes throughout their length to allow gas to permeate through and escape up the pole to a lower pressure environment - the atmosphere.
When we consider carbon footprint and climate change potential, methane is a much more potent and dangerous greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide is. Methane captures and absorbs about 25 times more heat than carbon dioxide, making one methane molecule as heat-trapping as 25 molecules of CO2. Therefore, we must reduce these greenhouse gasses with high heat-trapping potential as much as possible. Landfills are currently the third-largest source of methane emissions in the United States, making them a &#;super-emitter.&#;
MSW (municipal solid waste) landfills of a specific size must report their emissions (of methane, nitrogen, and more hazardous chemicals like VOCs) to the EPA or the designated state environmental agency. However, reporting, by itself, does not mean that the emissions themselves are reduced. Once landfills exceed a threshold of methane emissions, they must install gas collection systems or reduce these emissions in another way. Commonly, this other way is through &#;flaring&#; the methane that escapes - lighting it on fire as it leaves the emitting pipes. Flaring the methane effectively oxidizes the CH4 (methane) particle into CO2 particles. Better, because methane particles are broken up, but not great since CO2 particles are still emitted into the atmosphere.
While it&#;s possible to install equipment in landfills that capture this gas, clean it, and sell it as readily-usable natural gas fuel, this equipment is currently uncommon. This exciting technology is commonly called methane-to-energy. While we are hopeful that these systems continue to multiply across the country, we&#;re aware that they are currently used in less than 20% of landfills and are not legally required to be adopted by landfill operations. The EPA &#;tracks more than 2,600 municipal solid waste landfills. About 500 collect methane for energy production.&#;
Landfills separate materials from the outside environment. For this reason, nothing that biodegrades should find its way into a landfill. We sincerely want to reduce the linear model of take-make-waste that is the primary method for most single-use plastics and leads to their disposal in a landfill (or, at worst, ocean pollution.) We also recognize that a landfill is perhaps the best place for plastics that we cannot recycle. Their chemical structure remains intact and separate from the environment, and they do not biodegrade and release methane in less than hundreds or thousands of years.
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Myth: Compostable polybags are a better alternative than (recycled) plastic polybags.
In Reality: Most Americans do not have access to composting streams, making it unlikely that most of these polybags shipped will be composted. Instead, they&#;ll likely go to the landfill (and contribute to methane emissions) or be incorrectly recycled (adding to recycling contamination.) Unfortunately, even if consumers have access to industrial composting, few composters want or use the bioplastic eCommerce packaging.
Municipal curbside composting is still surprisingly limited across the largest cities in the USA. Additionally, most compost providers do not accept or prefer bioplastic wastes. Though compostable bioplastics can be an exciting option for brands, the reality of how consumers will dispose of those materials is less clear.
The SPC states that, as of , &#;at least 11% of the US population has access to composting programs that accept some form of compostable packaging in addition to food waste.&#; Our most recent review of the composters in the 20 most populated cities of the United States, and their ideal inputs, tells a similar story: the vast majority of municipal and independent composting services for households do not want compostable bioplastics.
Access and practicality of sending bioplastics to an industrial compost collection stream are two major reasons we do not utilize these materials in our applications.
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Myth: Dissolvable plastics are automatically biodegradable plastics and the most accessible form of disposal. Everyone has a kitchen sink!
In Reality: Dissolvable plastics disappear down the sink, but that may not be good. Wastewater systems aren&#;t equipped to treat novel materials proactively and should not be considered an additional consumer &#;waste stream.&#; Protecting our water is critically important.
We must understand and recognize the limits of the wastewater treatment systems across our country. For example, suppose dissolvable plastics begin to increase in number. In that case, this is the system that will be relied on for remediation of these water-soluble materials (and the environmental regulatory bodies and policies that regulate them.)
Anything flushed down the sink, the tub, the toilet, or the gutter will eventually make its way to a wastewater treatment plant. The processes used in wastewater treatment have remained mostly the same over the last fifty years, while the types of materials introduced into their systems have changed rapidly. The Clean Water Act of regulates WWTPs. Across the country, they are in constant need of repair and improvement. As a result, Wastewater Infrastructure scored a D+ from the Infrastructure Report Card of America. WWTPs are responsible for cleaning the municipal water and sewer effluent before releasing it eventually into surface waters.
I bet you didn&#;t think you&#;d be getting a lesson on wastewater screening when you opened this resource, huh? But, trust me, it&#;s relevant.
Source: The Open University, Understanding water quality, Figure 18
As sludge from the combination of water effluent sources makes its way to a wastewater treatment plant, it goes through some basic filtration steps:
Once through treatment, the remaining effluent leaves the treatment plant and enters the environment. The Clean Water Act regulates WWTPs, so consistent testing and reporting to the EPA and state environmental agencies are required. This testing ensures that plants don&#;t pollute more of any given water contaminant into the environment than legally allowed.
Wastewater regulation and treatment have two critical takeaways.
The first is that the only pollutants regulated by law and included in the CWA or EPA regulations have already been proven dangerous or harmful to humans and the environment. This list of contaminants is slow to be updated, reviewed, and regulated.
More explicitly: wastewater treatment has been designed around the materials in the sewers of the late twentieth century. It is not proactively updated as new water-soluble materials come on the market.
The second is that WWTPs have a unique loophole for their &#;discharge&#; regulations or the number of pollutants that facilities can discharge to the environment after treatment. Regular monitoring and testing are required to ensure the levels of pollutants are within the scope required by law. However, this testing is not required in the cases of stormwater overflows. Sewage systems are responsible for taking and treating human-produced water waste and the water that flows in from stormwater drains and gutters across a municipality. In the cases of flash floods, heavy rains, or hurricanes, when the sheer volume of water entering the sewer system exceeds the limits of what a WWTP is designed to treat, the regulation requirements fall away. There is no testing required and no way to ensure that the water through this system is free of the typically regulated contaminants.
For more information, please visit biodegradable plastic film manufacturer.
In a world where our weather is becoming more and more erratic, storms are stronger, and less ground is permeable for water (i.e., grass and soil replaced by pavement), these surges become more likely and more common.
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History has taught us that, when it comes to water, we often react and legislate too late after significant harm has already been done to our waterways and local communities that rely on that water. Because of this, as we evaluate bioplastics, we are particularly cautious about any bioplastic that is designed to dissolve in water.
In the last several years, we have seen a growth in an interesting trend in the sustainable packaging zeitgeist: dissolvable plastics and packaging. Commonly, PVOH/PVA is produced into clear thin films to rival a typical polybag, and cornstarch is expanded into foams to be used as a void fill or protective packaging option.
Water dissolution is the preferred end-of-life method for water-soluble/dissolvable plastics and biopolymers, specifically PVOH/PVA and Cornstarch foams. They are often encouraged to be dissolved in water and down your kitchen sink.
Generally, we tend to remember and heed the lessons learned from famed tales of the environmental externalities that have wreaked havoc on human and animal health. These externalities include DDT, microplastic beads, and PFOA/PFAS. We share them here to illustrate the gravity and reality of these chemicals and their stories&#; value in our current discernment.
DDT
DDT was a chemical popularized in the s, meant to be used as an all-purpose and state-of-the-art pesticide. We distributed it widely over the farmlands that had grown and strained under pressure to support a country recovering from war and economic decline. &#;Distributed widely,&#; meaning released by cars and planes in giant plumes of powder across farmland, streets, and neighborhoods and used in households for pest control. It was everywhere.
Cut to two decades later. To the scientific community, it has become growingly certain that the impact of DDT on natural environments is harmful. Rachel Carson&#;s seminal book &#;Silent Spring&#; was published in and detailed its impacts on harming the genetics and health of birds and insects; she explored a world without the songs of birds every year. Birds of all types suffered, but one of the most notable was the sudden decline in populations of Bald Eagles. The chemical impacted the thickness of their eggshells, endangering and rapidly reducing the number of chicks that survived. Carson&#;s book became the first major example of literature impacting the choices and demands of Americans&#; interaction with the environment.
Importantly - DDT was not immediately banned by the companies who produced it, nor was the subject of a drop in sales through mass protesting. Instead, it took ten years for the chemical to be legally banned and its production and use to be controlled. For eight of those years, the EPA was not yet in existence.
Microplastics
Microplastic beads dominated scrubbing beauty products - like face and body washes - from the early s until . The research concluded that we had found microplastic beads in the open waters of Lake Ontario, one of the Great Lakes of North America.
These findings began an incredibly swift public outcry, education campaign, and urge to protest and prevent using products containing these plastics. Microplastic beads were subsequently banned in and eliminated by . However, this was just the beginning of our public and corporate conversations about marine plastic pollution in the form of microplastics that degrade and anatomize from tons of plastic waste (rigid, thin-film, micro, textile) that make its way to waterways each year.
Most water and wastewater treatment plants do not have the technology or capability to screen out and &#;treat&#; microplastics in water the way they do for dozens of other contaminants. Since their molecular size is so small, they can move past most screens and sieves and make their way to the environment and into the bodies of larger and larger animals. This phenomenon is called bioaccumulation: toxins increase in quantity as they move from prey to predator in a food chain, making the apex of the food chain the home of high levels of toxins or contaminants.
In fact, as of March 24th, (two days before writing this sentence), a study found the presence of microplastics in a majority of human blood - 17 out of 22 test subjects.
Teflon
If you have read the excellent New York Times article The Lawyer Who Became DuPont&#;s Worst Nightmare (seriously, if you haven&#;t read it - read it) or seen the movie Dark Waters, you are familiar with the acronyms PFOA or PFAS.
If not, these chemicals result from unique chemical technologies - most commonly, Teflon. Produced by 3M in , then adopted by several chemical giants, and used ubiquitously by producers of household items like nonstick frying pans, PFOA/PFAS was proprietary and an incredibly profitable chemical.
A West Virginia farmer whose cattle were mysteriously ill and dying asked for help from a friend-of-a-friend, big-shot, corporate environmental lawyer in . His land was downstream from an industrial landfill, owned and operated by DuPont, which held and managed the nearby plant&#;s toxic waste. The investigation into the dangers of PFOA began - but only by one lawyer, Rob Billot, and only because he felt obliged to help this farmer who had been turned away by everyone else in his quest for help.
From the chemical production and its use in Teflon products, PFOA/PFAS molecules became water-bound and found their way into water systems, environments, and drinking water. It eluded existing wastewater treatment technologies and was invisible in its volumes and impacts to regulators and operators. It found its way into natural environments and drinking water systems around the country.
After ongoing work and legal processes, in , studies into PFOA found it was an endocrine-disrupting chemical and had probable links to a wide range of cancers in humans and animals. As a result, in , the EPA banned its use in the USA after 70 years of use.
There is a common thread between these stories. It links back to arguably the most important reality of environmental regulation: chemicals used in industry are not regulated until they have been proven to be harmful. It&#;s &#;innocent until proven guilty&#; for synthetic materials.
This article detailing the story of PFOAs so beautifully summarizes: &#;&#;corporations could rely upon the public misperception that if a chemical was dangerous, it was regulated.&#; Under the Toxic Substances Control Act, the E.P.A. can test chemicals only when it has been provided evidence of harm. This arrangement, which largely allows chemical companies to regulate themselves, is the reason that the E.P.A. has restricted only five chemicals, out of tens of thousands on the market, in the last 40 years.&#;
Our responsibility to water? Prudence. Water is arguably our most vital and sparse natural resource. Less than 2% of all water on Earth is freshwater, which all living things solely rely on for life. Understanding the precious nature of this resource and the realities of water treatment technologies and policy, we must use extreme diligence to discern the materials we release into it.
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The vast majority of research currently available about PVOH/PVA - Polyvinyl Alcohol - suggests that it is safe for human and aquatic life in controlled environments (liquid solutions) of <5% concentration. This research does not mean that we are choosing not to still deeply consider introducing and increasing this material in our water systems. PVOH is used in many medical and saponic products as a clear coating for medication or cleaners. If you use laundry or dishwasher pods, you interact with PVOH - it&#;s the clear coating that keeps the soap in place and dissolves in the process. These approaches make a lot of sense given the use case: a product that interacts with water, anyway, in a system that would receive and treat that waste or dirt being removed in the first place.
We don&#;t think a massive use of PVOH as the input source for packaging films is the best use case for this polymer. First, it requires a much higher amount of PVOH source materials (polyvinyl acetate, aka glue) to make a polybag than a detergent pod. Since this is a petroleum-based product, the feedstock is not ideal. This same volume of PVOH needed for production is then making its way into water treatment systems. Thus far, scientific consideration of PVOH shows it is likely a relatively benign chemical when used in moderation. This article, published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, takes a close look at the impact of its use on water in the USA. Its conclusion?
&#;We observed that PVA has low degradation rates within WWTPs [wastewater treatment plants]; thus, its hydrophilicity and massive production numbers make it a cause for concern as a pollutant in the natural environment. Very little research exists that aims to monitor the biodegradability of PVA in the natural environment. This presents a challenge in determining its role or impact as a pollutant.&#;
Degradation of Polyvinyl Alcohol in US Wastewater Treatment Plants and Subsequent Nationwide Emission Estimate
The environmental regulation of most chemicals used and created by non-FDA regulated industries are, by nature, reactionary. Given this, when it comes to novel materials we are introducing in large quantities into our water, we should be determining their necessity upfront. Instead of qualifying what materials we put down the drain by asking &#;why not?&#;, we should instead be asking &#;why should we?&#;
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These questions help create a larger framework for assessing materials. They are the questions that are most important to our company ethos. You could extrapolate and call these our corporate sustainability values.
At EcoEnclose, we use a Sustainable Packaging Framework to allow us to do the same fundamental assessment for packaging materials and products that come on the market. That way, we don&#;t have to research all of the ins and outs of each product to determine whether we support it, use it ourselves, or offer it to our customers. Instead, we see how it aligns with our values and scores on our framework and go from there.
Inputs:
Functionality:
End of Life:
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We recognize that there is no bioplastic currently on the market that meets our vision for circularity (able to be readily recycled back into itself) and our standards for sustainable input materials (regenerative crops or feedstocks, existing waste streams, agricultural residues.)
So, what would our ideal eCommerce bioplastic be? Here are the things we look for when it comes to bioplastics.
Inputs Function End of LifeWith this framework in mind, as of today, we find that recycled content is still very much superior to any bioplastic material available. However, as EcoEnclose explores use cases where composting is preferred (i.e., food/organics) or where the strength of a virgin plastic polymer is genuinely required, we may find ourselves turning to bioplastic solutions that meet the above framework.
We recognize that the above research is helpful in myth-busting and making sense of the biopolymers on the market. However, it does not immediately help answer some practical questions about achieving your sustainable packaging goals. We have existing resources that may help you in these journeys available on our website.
Guide to Sustainable Inner Packaging (February )
Transitioning from Poly to Paper Packaging (January )
Moving your Fulfillment Center to a Sustainable Packaging Strategy (January )
As always, EcoEnclose welcomes questions and interests in all things sustainable packaging. If you could use some advice, ideas, or support, please reach out to us. Our team will be happy to work with you.
888-445-
www.ecoenclose.com
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The global adoption of biodegradable and compostable plastics obtained from biomass&#;derived monomers, we argue in this account, is now close to the inflection point. The first industrially significant impact will affect the packaging segment of the global chemical industry. In this process, China and India will play a pivotal role. Selected guidelines aiming to foster development of bioplastics industry in both developed and developing nations are provided.
Keywords:
biodegradable, plastics, compostable, bioeconomy, megatrends
Plastic &#; Quo vadis? Estimates for biodegradable and compostable plastics market growth until suggest a modest yearly growth of less than 1&#;%. Yet, the bioplastics market will experience a production and uptake growth curve similar to that of photovoltaic solar cells since , with China and India playing a pivotal role.
The use of oil&#;derived plastics &#; in particular that of the five main commodity thermoplastics (polypropylene, polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene and polyethylene terephthalate) &#; provides numerous and significant societal benefits.1 Used to package foodstuffs, water and beverages, for example, plastics contributes to the health and safety of people across the world.
Besides food, most personal care, cosmetic, and domestic products are packaged in plastic containers. Unfortunately, the chemical stability of these polymers, which is one of the main reason of their successful applications, gives rise also to serious environmental and health problems due to the huge amount of plastic waste released yearly in the environment. Thorough estimates in indicate that out of the overall amount of plastic waste produced between and , only 9 percent was recycled.2 In the same year, around 55 percent of global plastic waste was discarded in the environment or landfilled, 25 percent was incinerated, and 20 percent was recycled.2
As a result, a minimum of 5.25 trillion plastics particles weighing close to 269,000 tonnes was conservatively estimated in float on the surface of world's oceans using an oceanographic model of floating debris dispersal.3
Similary, plastics pollutes the soil4 in the form of both macroplastics (>5&#;mm) and of microplastics, namely plastic particles <5&#;mm in size formed via macroplastics degradation, microbeads and microplastic fibres.5
Microplastics in soil and waters enters the food chain with detrimental health effects.6 Since , and then even more since , many nations have adopted policies to reduce single&#;use plastic bags and to reduce plastic microbeads.7
In principle, biodegradable and compostable bioplastics would provide the aforementioned societal benefits while affording, respectively, lack of harmful residues or valued compost fertilizer.
Polylactic acid (PLA), starch, cellulose pulp, polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) such as polyhydroxybutyrate, and polyhydroxyoctanoate are the main biopolymers used to produce today's single&#;use bioplastics items such as bags, dishes, straws, coffee stirrers, glasses, horticulture pot, mulching film, bin&#;liners, dust sheets, bottles and packaging items.
Reliable recent estimates suggest that plastic packaging accounts for as much as 40 per cent of the overall plastic consumption every year, largely dominated by petrochemical polymers.8
The first bioplastics after Rilsan (polyamide 11 or nylon 11) commercialized in the early s, reached the marketplace in the early s. Only recently, however, has their global adoption started to become significant, starting from single&#;use bags, dishes and packaging applications. In , bioplastics comprised close to one percent (2.112 million tonnes) of the about 335 million tonnes of global plastics production.9
Excellent books detail the chemistry and engineering aspects of bioplastics and biocomposites.10 In this study we argue that the global adoption of biodegradable and compostable plastics obtained from biomass&#;derived monomers is close to the inflection point, with a forthcoming industrially significant impact due to shortly affect the packaging segment of the global chemical industry.
In this process, we further suggest in this account, China and India will play a pivotal role. We conclude providing selected guidelines aiming to foster development of bioplastics industry in both developed and developing nations.
In Europe, today's single&#;use plastic packaging and lignocellulosic materials are biodegradable and compostable when meeting the requirements of the European standard EN &#;Requirements for packaging recoverable through composting and biodegradation &#; Test scheme and evaluation criteria for the final acceptance of packaging&#;.
Similar requirements for non&#;packaging plastic items are specified by the European standard EN .
In other words, the latter standards define the characteristics that a material must possess in order to be considered &#;compostable&#;, namely that it can be recycled through organic recovery (composting and anaerobic digestion, Figure&#; ).
Open in a separate windowEN requires that the following four characteristics are tested in a laboratory:
Disintegration, namely fragmentation and loss of visibility in the final compost &#; this is measured in a pilot composting test in which specimens of the test material are composted with biowaste for 3&#;months. After this time, the mass of test material residues has to amount to less than 10&#;% of the original mass.
Biodegradability, namely the capability of the compostable material to be converted into CO2 under the action of microorganisms. The standard contains a mandatory threshold of at least 90 percent biodegradation that must be reached in less than 6&#;months (laboratory test method EN ).
Absence of negative effects on the composting process.
Amount of heavy metals has to be below given maximum values, and the final compost must not be affected negatively (no reduction of agronomic value and no ecotoxicological effects on plant growth). Plastics certified according to EN can be labeled by the &#;Seedling&#; logo (Figure&#;
) helping consumers to correctly identify the compostable material assisting in the decision on purchasing and disposing a product.
Certified, compostable plastics including items in PLA are sent to industrial composting plants by disposal as organic waste. Indeed, contrary to what is frequently reported in the grey literature, PLA (a very versatile material and an excellent replacement for polystyrene and polypropylene in demanding applications) already produced at >100,000&#;t/a rate, is biodegradable and compostable.11
For example, degradation of PLA sheets under composting plant conditions studied in Thailand in shows that after 8&#;days under composting plant conditions at relatively high temperature and humidity (50&#;60&#;°C and RH 60&#;%) the sheets became brittle and started to break into small pieces.12
The typical temperature at a land composting plant is higher than the glass transition temperature of PLA, enabling penetration of water molecules through the disordered polymer chains, thereby enhancing the hydrolysis reaction.
Even at home, PLA which is not home compostable, when blended with polycaprolactone (PCL) becomes home&#;compostable.13 In other words, bioplastics manufacturers can manufacture PLA&#;based plastic blends which can be made home or industrial compostable, more or less rapidly biodegraded, depending on the use of the bioplastic objects commercialized.
As a result, compostable tableware and cutlery in PLA or in PHA used, for example, at large events (sports, concerts, ceremonies etc.) as well as in restaurants can then be disposed of together with the food waste in one single compostable &#;waste&#; stream. Waste, however, will turn into high quality compost/soil improver fertilizer and valued biogas according to the principles of the circular economy.
Composting takes place at the same composting plants, ubiquitous for example in Italy or in Germany, where food and other organic waste undergoes conversion into compost and biogas.
To understand why bioplastics remained a niche of the overall plastics market even in low value&#;added segment of packaging or bags, it is revealing to review the comments of an India's pioneer entrepreneur in bioplastics:
&#;Suddenly, in , Mangaluru City Corporation imposed a ban on plastics, I thought that I must invest in this venture of providing cloth bags in Mangaluru. During the distribution of cloth bags, a fisherwoman came to me and asked me if I was the reason behind the ban on plastics. She raised a serious question when she asked me about how she could sell fish worth Rs 20 in a bag which costs Rs 25. No one was ready to buy these bags.&#;14
High production costs, and therefore high price, have prevented for more than two decades bioplastics from competing with petrochemical polymers. Today, however, it has been enough to deploy relatively modest investments in research and new production routes, to change the situation. The bags produced at the first manufacturing unit is located in Peenya, India, starting from corn starch, vegetable oil derivatives and vegetable waste now cost Rs 3, with the bags produced based on customer demand.14
In general, bio&#;based polymers are usually produced in small plants in which either biopolymers such as starch are processed into thermoplastic polymers, or sugars are converted into polymers via fermentation routes. Manufacturing units are distributed across a country, almost in opposite fashion to large, centralized petrochemical plants where oil is first refined and then its fractions and molecules undergo through highly efficient heterogeneously catalyzed processes to produce chemicals and polymers.
Apparently, successful competition with petrochemical companies, accumulating large earnings from the sale of petrochemicals when the price of oil is low (i.&#;e. <$40/b), and compensating losses from petrochemical manufacturing when the price of oil is high through the sale of fuels, would seem impossible.
This explains why in the last decade numerous companies targeting bioproducts such as bioplastics failed, were acquired by petroleum companies or changed productions targeting higher value products such as cosmetic ingredients.
However, the combination of low and rapidly declining EROI (energy returned on energy invested) for oil, demography and global economic growth demands some 32 additional million barrels per day by .15
In other words, in less than a decade, for the global economy continuing to grow at natural pace, mankind should add more than one third of current 90 million barrels consumed daily.
Under these conditions, switching the production of chemicals and polymers from oil to biomass, and that of energy from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources, is inevitable prior to serious global energy and resource crisis.
According to a recent analysis commissioned by European Bioplastics (an association based in Germany representing about 70 members from the entire value chain of bioplastics), global production capacities of bioplastics are predicted to grow from around 2.11 million tonnes in to approximately 2.62 million tonnes by .16 For comparison, the overall global plastic production of plastics in was 335 million tonnes, and since then it has continued to grow.
Biodegradable bioplastics are very well suited for packaging applications. Indeed, flexible and rigid packaging accounted for about 60&#;% of their market in (Figure&#; ), followed by agriculture and horticulture.
Open in a separate windowEstimates for biodegradable and compostable plastics market growth until suggest a modest yearly growth of less than 1&#;%. According to the aforementioned association's estimates, the global market would grow by a mere 24&#;% in five years (&#;).
Yet, we argue in the following, exactly as it happened with the unexpected massive production and uptake of solar photovoltaic modules for electricity production,17 China (and India) have a synergistic opportunity with switching from imported oil to locally sourced biomass to make bioplastics: clean their environment, improve public health and agriculture, and at the same time build a new profitable industry targeting the global market in which societies, and especially younger consumer generations, demand green and sustainable products posing no threats to health and to the environment.
China and India currently account for about 37&#;% of the world's population, with China currently home to about 1.4 billion people and India to 1.3 billion.
Alone, the consumption of thin (4&#;8&#;μm) polyethylene sheets of Chinese farmers increased from 6,000 tonnes, covering 0.12 million ha, in , to 1.2 million tonnes, covering almost 20 million ha, in .18
Such thin film comprised of non&#;biodegradable polyethylene is easily damaged, difficult to remove and cannot be reused for a second season. The outcome discovered in is that residual plastic in the top 0.3&#;m soil layer was estimated to vary from 72 to 260&#;kg/ha, depending on number of years use, percentage of ground covered and film thickness, significantly diminishing crop yields.18
Showing further evidence of the policy crucial role in promoting bioplastics adoption, after regulations to ban plastic bags in several Europe's countries including Italy, China in banned almost all foreign plastic waste imports, causing troubles to most urban waste recycling plants in Europe and in the USA.19
In mid , China's president stressed once again the importance of pollution prevention and control for a truly sustainable economic growth.20 It may not be surprising to learn that in late a subsidiary of China's state&#;owned and largest food company began production of biodegradable PLA resin. Similarly, a Chinese corn processing company along with a subsidiary of a France's sugar company is currently building thanks to an overall investment of about $100 million a PLA plant in Anhui Province with a capacity to produce 100,000 tonnes per year by .21
At the same time, existing bioplastics companies in China are growing at fast rate. For example, the amount of PLA at one firm manufacturing the resin in the Zhejiang Province has gone from 5,000 tonnes in to 15,000 tonnes in , with projected increase in production to 65,000 tonnes by .21
Existing conventional plastics manufacturers in China are therefore quickly expanding their productions to include bioplastics manufacturing. For instance, a large conventional plastics manufacturer with installed production capacity of over 600,000 tonnes in , plans to build an additional production capacity of 300,000 tonnes of &#;biological composite materials&#; in , focusing at the beginning on bioplastics for packaging.21
In this context, India will not repeat what happened with its solar cell and photovoltaic module manufacturers which, likewise those based in Europe, make up today a negligible fraction of the current >100&#;GW global solar cell production, chiefly taking place in China.
Following the August 15, Independence Day address in which India's premier called for ban a single&#;use plastic ban for six types of plastics, the expected ban was &#;put on hold, with officials stating the ban would be too disruptive to industry&#;.22
The aforementioned Bengaluru&#;based company producing low cost biodegradable plastics bags already has it products available in 12 countries beyond India. Made from tapioca starch and vegetable oil, and affording a thermoplastic resin not requiring industrial composting conditions to biodegrade, the polymer rapidly decomposes even under ambient conditions.
Aptly called &#;unplastic&#; the resin, after passing boiling water, burning, hot iron, edible and strength tests conducted by public and private industrial product certification bodies, is currently undergoing the EN test for biogradable certification.23
The raw materials used to produce the resin (corn starch, potato, tapioca, corn, natural starch, banana, flower oil, vegetable oil derivatives and vegetable waste) are locally sourced at low cost, which along with the low cost production process, translates into unprecedented low prices for the resulting biodegradable bags.
The company is partnering with several other companies to start local production in the numerous States comprising the huge India nation, so as to scale up production, and cut transportation costs thereby exploiting the advantages of polymer distributed manufacturing in place of the centralized petrochemical production.
India's agriculture today is so developed that the country not only satisfies the food needs of its 1.3 million inhabitants but also exports large amounts of crops (for example, out of the 90.8 million tonnes of wheat produced in the country, in &#;15, 29 million tonnes was exported).24 Agricultural, forestry and food processing industry by&#;products such as for example molasses and sawdust are ideally suited to source both polymers and sugars to manufacture new generation bioplastics.
In this way, not only bioplastics manufacturing will not deprive the production of food, but it will actually provide extra revenues to India's farmers who, in their turn, will benefit from using mulch bioplastics in place of the polyethylene sheets or bisphenol&#;based polycarbonate for their greenhouses.
Indeed, providing a comprehensive perspective on the need to transform the linear plastics economy into a circular plastics economy, Lin and co&#;workers have lately shown how waste valorization through green chemistry technology can practically realize the concept of a plastics circular economy through for example a biorefinery to produce high value&#;added fructose via food waste bioconversion,25 or via textile waste biorefining to produce valued glucose syrup and polyester.26
Driven by societal megatrends concerning the environment, health, and energy which permeate societies on a global scale, significant product and process innovation is taking place in the chemical industry.27 These megatrends include a profound reshape in customer demand in which lack of negative impact on the environment and human health of chemical products, starting from plastics, becomes central.
It is this change which is driving rapid advancements and innovations in bioplastics manufacturing, including the discovery of new bioplastics&#;based materials with improved properties and new functionalities in sight of their wide uptake in sectors today dominated by petrochemical polymers such as textiles, construction and building, consumer goods, and automotive applications.
New and mass demand of biodegradable and compostable bioplastics, already unfolding in China, will shortly arise also in India. Together, the world's two most populated countries are eminently suited for large&#;scale bioplastics manufacturing, exactly as it is happening for widespread distributed energy generation thanks to photovoltaic solar energy.17, 28
In this rapidly evolving context, in which the bioplastics market growth will not be limited to 1 or 2 per cent but it will experience a curve more similar to that of photovoltaic global uptake after , the other countries owning large chemical companies will necessarily start to enter bioplastics manufacturing. It is instructive, in this respect, to notice that in Japan &#;in the last year or so&#; local manufacturers are turning to biodegradable plastics and specialty paper products as an alternative to single&#;use plastic packaging&#;.29
Given the intrinsic nature of the bioeconomy relying on biological and renewable resources, all world's countries may benefit from establishing their own bioplastics industry. To foster progress towards this aim, two guidelines emerge from the present study.
First, existing and new bioplastics companies need to increasingly adopt highly efficient, continuous production technologies largely based on heterogeneous biocatalysis similar,30 even though on different scale and under much milder reactions conditions, to those based on heterogeneous chemocatalysis employed by the petrochemical industry.
Second, to increase knowledge creation and its transfer to the new industry, and address the shortage of skilled workforce and researchers, countries should proactively act by establishing new bioeconomy research and educational institutes able to give also more useful policy advice.31, 32
Critics of renewable energy first pointed to its &#;unbearable high economic cost&#; and then, when the cost of generating electricity using PV modules became by far the cheapest among all energy sources, they emphasized the &#;intermittent and intrinsically unreliable nature&#; of energy generate by sunlight or wind. Even in a remote Hawaii's island only this year one utility company will save purchase and import of more than 1,000 tonnes of diesel fuel, supplying its customers with electricity of unsurpassed quality (frequency of the alternating current, and stable voltage) generated with PV modules stored in a 100&#;MWh battery energy system.33
Chemical companies in conventional plastics may wish to learn from this single example how to avoid what happened to the manufacturers of turbines for thermoelectric power plants, whose global market, displaced by the world's adoption of PV and wind power, has gone from a total generation capacity of 71.6 GW in to about 30 GW in ,34 and is currently continuing to shrink.
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
This article is dedicated to Professor Babak Karimi, eminent catalysis and materials chemistry innovator, on the occasion of his 50th birthday. The Frontispiece picture shows single&#;use biodegradable straws comprised of Avena sativa herbaceous stem produced in Siciliy by Marcello Catania. Pgotograph of Mario Pagliaro.
R. Ciriminna, M. Pagliaro, ChemistryOpen , 9, 8. [PMC free article] [PubMed]
Dr. Rosaria Ciriminna, : .
Dr. Mario Pagliaro, : , http://www.qualitas.net.
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