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  • Vicki Lynn Ramsay
    • Aug 24
    • 4 min read

Bioplastics: Future or Foul Play?



For better and for worse, humans are natural innovators. Currently we have produced so much plastic, its mass outweighs the biomass of all marine and terrestrial animals on Earth. [i] The urgency of our plastic pollution crisis compels us to shift away from the way products are conceived, created, and reused. With our ingenuity, why can’t humans create a product that possesses the positive aspects of plastic: durability, flexibility, sterility, reusability while leaving its toxicity behind? Bioplastics have been increasingly promoted as an alternative to harmful, run of the mill, fossil fuel-based plastics, with manufacturers making claims that these plastics are in fact, biodegradable. Yet, the terms biodegradable, bioplastic, bio-based plastic, and compostable, while ubiquitous, do not mean what you think they mean.

 

First, let’s identify some key terms. Then let’s look at which alternatives to plastic might be genuinely good for the Earth.

 

Bioplastic: This term can refer to plastic that is bio-based, biodegradable, and/or compostable.

Bio-based: This refers to plastic that is “partly or entirely made from biological feedstocks,” such as wood, corn, or sugar beet. This plastic may still contain fossil fuels, called “drop-in plastics,” and “is functionally or even chemically identical to conventional plastic.”[ii] For a plastic to be considered bio-based it needs only to be composed of 20% bio-based material. The remaining composition can be made from fossil-fuel based plastic.

Biodegradable plastic: This plastic may be able to, under specific conditions, be broken down by bacteria, fungi, or other microorganisms into water, carbon dioxide, and minerals.

Biodegradable: This term, therefore, “refers to a material’s end-of-life behavior, regardless of its component materials, which can include biological material, fossil fuels, or both.” In fact, studies have shown this type of plastic often fails to fully biodegrade. Yet, if the plastic only partially degrades but is of a size 2mm or less, it is considered undetectable, but continues in the biosphere as hazardous microplastics.[iii]

Compostable plastic: This term is a subcategory of biodegradable plastic. It refers to material that can fully biodegrade under the specific conditions of an industrial composting facility.[iv]

 

Sadly, our most noble intentions for finding earth-friendly disposable products are often thwarted by greenwashing, the tactics companies use to make their products seem more environmentally safe than they actually are. Knowing the terminology and being aware of greenwashing doesn’t dispel confusion about how to dispose of bioplastic. Some bioplastic can actually be recycled, although it’s important to remember that all plastic recycling degrades the material, and only 6% is recycled in the US, 8% worldwide. Biodegradable plastic cannot be recycled and compostable plastic needs to be sent directly to a certified facility, if you can locate one.

 

What are current viable bioplastic alternatives?

So far, in my research, I’ve discovered only one. PHA bioplastic is a promising plastic alternative if framed by robust laws that promote appropriate plastic production and realistic goals for reuse. PHA stands for Polyhydroxyalkanoate, a type of biodegradable plastic derived from bacterial fermentation of sugars or lipids. It is composed of polyesters made from R-hydroxy alkanoic acids that serve as both a carbon storage product and, when the bacteria run out of nutrients, as their energy source. The archaeal and bacterial organisms create the PHA granules which are then harvested using solvents.

 

Advantages of PHA

·    renewable, made from renewable resources

·    have a smaller carbon footprint than plastics made from fossil fuels

·    biodegradable in a home compost system and environment

·    can be molded into various shapes and forms

·    can be used in packaging, consumer goods, and medical devices

·    water insoluble

·    ideal for medical use

·    biocompatible – good uses for medical applications

·    non-toxic

·    claims are that PHA will efficiently breakdown in the oceans[v]

 

Disadvantages of PHA

·    costly compared to fossil fuel-based plastics and therefore less accessible

·    cost-effective carbon sources are hard to come by

·    produced in small quantities at this time making them less available to consumers

·    limitations in flexibility and durability making them less suitable for high stress uses[vi]

·    genetic engineering of suitable bacterial hosts is challenging[vii]

 

It is evident at this stage in our development of alternatives to plastic that we need to strengthen laws protecting the environment from toxins simultaneously with the introduction of new materials. We need to move forward consciously with rules that help promote consumers’ awareness of the materials they use on a daily basis. In addition, we should not continue our pursuit of disposable materials to replace the ones that are already polluting our environment. We have come to rely on disposability as a way of life, forgetting our connection to the biosphere is not unidirectional. In other words, in a throwaway society, there is no away. 


One globally respected group dedicated to turning off plastic pollution at the tap is Break Free from Plastic: https://www.breakfreefromplastic.org/. They, in partnership with the United Nations, are in the process of developing a global plastics treaty to guide all nations in our plastic use, even as we search for plastic alternatives. The content of the global plastics treaty is still in process.  In a nutshell, this treaty:

·    protects human health and the health of the environment

·   demands huge cuts in the production of plastic

·   proposes measures to hold plastic-producing industries and countries accountable

·    promotes systems of reuse rather than replacing our current throwaway system with another that is called biodegradable

·    does not promote false solutions like plastic credits, many bioplastics, chemical recycling and incineration

 

No plastic should be designed to be used and then thrown into the environment to degrade. The very idea of bioplastics as a substitute for our current plastic use is anathema to the relationship we all owe to the Earth we call home.


Check out this related VPF blog that you may have missed!

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