Are Bioplastics a Wrap? - A point of view!
Cost and infrastructure improvements mean the sector (Bioplastics) is finally poised to boom.
Until now, bioplastics have lingered at the margins of the plastics market. But not for much longer. The sector is about to explode. Global production capacity for bioplastics is set to quadruple by 2011, unleashing roughly 1 million tonnes of products onto the market, according to the European Bioplastics Association.
The term bioplastic is applied to plastics that are either derived from renewable resources, or that are biodegradable, or as was the case originally both. Renewable bioplastics are derived from starchy cereals like corn, rice, potatoes and sugarcane, or from hemp and soy oils, while bioplastics classified as biodegradable must meet rigorous standards on biodegradability and compostability.
Double jeopardyThe reason the bioplastics market has taken so long to find its legs is twofold. Firstly, bioplastics have been uncompetitive. Secondly, a lack of infrastructure has meant that its trump card “waste free” plastic has not yet been given full play.
Bioplastics have received a lukewarm reception in the past from buyers on the basis of cost. This is because, as packaging, it usually costs around 20% to 100% more than conventional plastic.
But a combination of packaging taxes and rising oil prices is significantly narrowing the price differential between petroleum-based plastics and bioplastics.
Hefty packaging taxes being introduced in Europe as well as in the US from which bioplastics are exempt are levelling the field, rendering bioplastic more competitive than before.
Meanwhile, surging oil prices have hit the petrochemicals industry hard. The price of plastic resins like polypropylene (widely used in textiles, and eating and drinking utensils) has risen as much as 45%, according to the Plastics Exchange in Chicago. This is driving demand for renewable alternatives to fossil-based plastics, promising to deliver the critical mass to the bioplastics market that, until now, has been missing.
Waste of potentialAnother factor driving uptake is European directives designed to establish an infrastructure for biowaste collection in which compostable bioplastics would be included.
Until now, potentially large buyers of bioplastics, like Innocent Drinks, have been put off by the lack of waste collection and composting infrastructure.
Currently only 1% at most of bioplastics in Europe, and roughly the same in the US, is composted, says Joseph Barth, managing director of the European Compost Network.
The rest either goes into the bin to be shipped off to a landfill site, where, in the absence of oxygen required for biodegradation, it releases methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. Or it gets tossed into the recyclable plastics bin, where it risks contaminating the waste stream.
However, regulations like the European Commission (EC) Landfill Directive, which requires a diversion of 65% of organic waste away from landfill between now and 2016, are likely to change this. Coupled with the EC Biowaste directive (currently being drafted), which encourages the recycling of food waste to agricultural land, the directives are likely to stimulate the demand and investment required to establish an infrastructure for widespread biowaste collection and composting.
Environmentally friendly plastic?The idea behind bioplastic is that you could fill up a bioplastic bag with food waste and throw other bioplastic products like drinks bottles, disposable plates and cutlery in a composter and within three months in theory there would be no trace.
In Europe, the standard EN13432 dictates that 90% of the bioplastic must convert to CO2, water and inorganic compounds (such as mercury or arsenic) within 90 days. The composted plastic must also meet disintegration and ecotoxicity standards in both field and laboratory tests.
This is because at the end of its life cycle, the composted bioplastic waste is packaged and sold in garden centres, as well as wholesale to farmers to be used as agricultural fertiliser.
Current standards dictate that there is a 5% threshold of material residues, post degradation. According to Marko Schnarr, an agricultural scientist at the European Bioplastics Association, in addition to lab tests, the compost is tested for harmful chemicals on sensitive plants. If it doesn’t kill the plant, it passes the test.
No research has yet investigated the cumulative effects of chemical residues in bioplastic compost on agricultural soil and on groundwater.
However, Dr Helen Coombs at the Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence, University of York, suggests soil contamination is a potential risk, from build-up of chemical residues.
Genetic anxietyA separate concern surrounding bioplastics has been the genetically modified(GM) origin of many bioplastic products from the United States.
Some companies like Metabolix, the manufacturer of bioplastic Mirel, are using biotechnology to grow polymers within the crop plants themselves. Metabolix also uses E.coli bacteria to create the PHA polymer within their cells.
In other cases, unless a US-based bioplastic company actively sources non-GM dextrose for cornstarch, the bioplastic is likely to contain GM DNA, given that the majority of US corn (73%, according to the USDA) is genetically modified.
According to Metabolix, no trace of GM is present in its final product (Mirel), or in any by-products.
Steve Mojo, executive director of the Biodegradable Products Institute, says there is little risk of GM contamination. The GM DNA would be scrubbed out in the early stages of converting the corn into PLA, he says. “The chances of the DNA making it into the plastic are close to nil.”
Even so, larger bioplastics producers such as Novamont and NatureWorks actively avoid the use of GM raw materials. To ensure that no GM contamination has occurred throughout the manufacturing process, both companies also engage a third-party certifier to test their end products.
Bio provisoA key issue relating to the term bioplastic is that not all of it is biodegradable. Nor does the term necessarily mean it comes from sustainable biomass.
Compostable polymer products are generally starch-based plastics derived from corn, rice and other cereal crops, like Novamont’s Mater-Bi. At the other end of the compostable plastics spectrum sit petroleum-based plastics known as ’specific synthetic polyesters’ such as BASF’s EcoFlex.
Alternatively, bioplastic can refer to plastics derived from renewable resources that are non-biodegradable and non-compostable, like Brazilian company Braskem’s green polyethylene.
Several car manufacturers, including Ford, Toyota and Mitsubishi, are also developing bioplastics for the manufacture of parts. In-house, Ford has developed soy-based biodegradable foams for seat cushions, arm rests and even boot lids.
To add to the mix, some bioplastics manufacturers such as NatureWorks have developed compostable bioplastics that are also recyclable. Natureworks’ Polylactide (PLA) product, Ingeo, is derived from cornstarch and is both biodegradable and recyclable.
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