They sound more at home on a beach than in a laboratory \u2013 but shrimp shells and algae are just two of the natural materials scientists are working with to develop more sustainable types of plastic.<\/p>\n
In a sector predicted to be worth around $7.2bn (\u00a35.5bn) by 2022, the race is on to develop materials that can take the place of oil-based plastics, which can have a detrimental effect on the oceans, wildlife and public health.<\/p>\n
Californian company Full Cycle Bioplastics has developed a technique for turning food scraps and other organic waste into a compostable plastic; it claims the material will be as cheap as oil-based plastics when produced at scale.<\/p>\n
The company\u2019s chief executive, Andrew Falcon, expects to have a demonstration plant up and running early next year. He says the invention has the potential to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and ease plastics pollution: in the ocean, or on land, the material would break down without leaching toxins into the environment, he says.<\/p>\n
The product belongs to a family of bioplastics known as polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) \u2013 polymers generated by certain bacteria when they are fed foods, including sugars.<\/p>\n
First discovered decades ago, they have been held back from commercial success by high production prices. But technological breakthroughs and rising investment are shifting the landscape, and PHA production is set to nearly quadruple between 2016 and 2021 according to European Bioplastics, a trade association.<\/p>\n
But as the range of materials grows, so do concerns about consumer confusion and greenwash, with campaigners warning that they aren\u2019t a magic bullet for our plastics crisis.<\/p>\n
Rob Opsomer, new plastics economy lead at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the British charity set up by the former solo long-distance yachtswoman, believes that certain bioplastics can bring benefits if disposed of appropriately. But he worries that the baffling range of labels \u2013 compostable, biodegradable, bio-based \u2013 can leave consumers unsure of what to do with their bioplastics once they\u2019re finished with them.<\/p>\n
Most compostable plastics, for example, can\u2019t simply be chucked in your garden, he explains \u2013 they need to be sent to an industrial composting facility. And while people may assume that bio-based products are all biodegradable, many aren\u2019t, he adds. Coca Cola\u2019s PlantBottle, for example, though partly derived from sugarcane, is chemically identical to hard-to-breakdown polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles. On the plus side, it can be recycled many times; on the downside, it won\u2019t breakdown for centuries.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is important that any claims made for these products are really clear, so people won\u2019t be throwing things on the street because they think it will degrade,\u201d says Opsomer. \u201cIt won\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bioplastics can do real damage when they end up in the wrong place, says Jo Ruxton, co-founder of campaign group Plastic Oceans. Even plastics labelled as biodegradable can take years to breakdown at sea, she says, during which time they can inflict plenty of damage: \u201cThey can be mistaken for food and ingested, they can entangle animals. They can do everything that plastic does \u2013 they just don\u2019t last as long.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beyond the logistical challenge, Rhoda Trimingham, a senior lecturer in design and technology at the University of Loughborough, worries that bioplastics may simply help to perpetuate the disposable culture at the root of our waste crisis.<\/p>\n
Where they allow a radical rethink of how we deliver goods they\u2019re hugely welcome she says \u2013 soluble pods that allow washing products to be delivered in concentrate form, for example, can save energy and materials.<\/p>\n
But some companies consider them a licence to keep manufacturing disposable goods, says Trimingham, adding: \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter what you do with it at the end of its life \u2013 you\u2019re putting energy in at the beginning to create it. We should be looking at refills and we should be looking at systems. And we should be looking at longer-lasting products.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tom Szaky, chief executive of recycling business TerraCycle, agrees there is a serious question about efficiency. Although he supports the development of durable bioplastics that reduce oil use and can fit in with the existing recycling system, he regards compostable plastics as a \u201cnegative step\u201d \u2013 wasting precious resources such as land and energy creating a product designed for single use.<\/p>\n
Although they\u2019ll degrade, he says, they won\u2019t degrade back into anything like the nutrient-rich earth at the start of the process. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t make environmental sense to take a plant, turn that plant into a highly refined petrochemical, only to then use it once and have it turn into something effectively worse than soil,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
The compostable conundrum<\/p>\n
Would compostable plastics be better received if they were made from waste products? At Wolverhampton University, researchers Iza Radecka and Marek Kowalczuk have developed a method for producing PHAs by feeding bacteria used cooking oil. They believe this strengthens the case for their use, particularly in the food services industry, where contaminated food packaging has traditionally been very hard to recycle. Being able to put a carton smeared with leftovers in the compost bin saves both the nutrients in the food and the packaging from ending up in landfill, says Eilidh Brunton, group recycling consultant at Vegware, an Edinburgh-based business that sells compostable cutlery and cups.<\/p>\n
That, of course, depends on the right bin being available. Brunton says Vegware\u2019s products work best in closed environments, like universities and hospitals, where people tend to throw packaging away on site, so collection is simpler.<\/p>\n
On the high street, it\u2019s more complicated. For the compostable system to work, businesses need to start \u201ctaking responsibility for the packaging that they\u2019re sending out there\u201d, she says, citing an Edinburgh cafe that gives a free soup to customers when they return their 10th compostable cup, as a positive example.<\/p>\n
Other businesses may have a little time to hone their own solutions: bioplastics still only account for 1% of global plastics production. \u201cWe\u2019re just at the beginning of cleaning up what has been done by the development of classical plastics,\u201d says Kowalczuk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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