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I would like you to read a pair of articles, and think about them in relation to eachother.
First is a recent study that estimates that...in theory up to 90 % of all plastic products and plastic consumption could be replaced by bioplastics. In theory. Of course, we're not even close, and won't be for a long time. But if you take the "long view", we know that at least in principle we can use bioplastics for a vast majority of the things we use plastics for.
How close are we? Enter a second article that claims that the demand for bioplastics should rise to 900,000 metric tons in 2013. The most important driver, according to the study, is an expected continuation of high prices for crude oil and natural gas.
Of course, nobody can predict the future, and there is always a "conservative" and an "optimistic" view.
California-based company Cereplast has revealed that it is developing breakthrough technology to transform algae into bioplastics, and predicts that it could replace 50% or more of the petroleum content used in traditional plastic resins.
According to Frederic Scheer, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Cereplast, "Based on our own efforts, as well as recent commitments by major players in the algae field, we believe that algae has the potential to become one of the most important green feedstocks for biofuels, as well as bioplastics."
In one of its forms, it looks like tiny puffy white beads pressed together into a solid, hard shape. And normally, those tiny puffy white balls are made from petroleum.
But what if they weren't?
Gregory Glenn and Simon Hodson have developed a new technique for processing starch plastic that yields an end result much like polystyrene foam.
According to the article, the process works generally like this:
We all know the normal list of reasons to like bio-plastics. They reduce our dependence on oil, they are made from renewable resources, they don't goober-up the environment with non-biodegradable waste, and so on.
But now we have another reason: bioplastic packaging can actually have a beneficial effect on produce. More specifically, using bioplastic packaging may improve the shelf-life of some produce by 50%.
From the article:
"We have as a company started with the application of bioplastics because we want to stand out for our quality and are very keen to conserve the environment. After we solved the initial problems, it was surprising to find that the potatoes had a much longer shelf life with no adverse effect on the quality," said Jaap Kodde, director and owner of Flevostar. "We also found that by using bioplastic no condensation formed inside the packaging because the packaging 'breathes'. Droplets of water which come into contact with a fresh product such as potatoes lead to faster rotting and reduction in quality."
In an earlier article, Debate: Bioplastics and Food, we reviewed an article in Bioplastics Magazine called Land use for bioplastics, discussing the topic of competition between bioplastics and food as use for crops.
The full text of the article is now available for download on the magazine website, thanks to the publishers of the magazine.
Can carbon dioxide be a feedstock for plastics and polymers? Novomer has raised $14 million in a second round to try and prove it.
The Cornell spin-out has devised a catalytic process that it believes could potentially solve a few big waste problems. The company effectively transforms captured carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide into binders and other chemicals for the plastics industry.
Thus, in one swoop, you get reduction of atmospheric carbon, carbon credits in jurisdictions that recognize them, reduced demand for oil, and a method for giving captured carbon an economic value beyond carbon credits.
There is a new research group in town (well, in Canada, anyway), and despite having the somewhat silly-sounding name of The BioPotato Network, it could make serious contributions in the bioplastic arena.
According to their website, this newly-formed research center consists of "32 scientists from various disciplines representing around 12 institutions from government, universities and industry from across Canada. The network will focus on developing bioproducts for health and the environment. This large network will also train a new generation of scientists in an exciting multidisciplinary environment."
Funded by a $5.3 million investment by the Government of Canada, one of the goals of the BioPotato Network is to bring together scientists from governments, academia and industry to collaborate on commercializing potato extracts, and, not incidentally, help to develop new markets for potato farmers.
The narrower bioplastics part of the initiative involves collaboration between plant breeders, food scientists, molecular biologists and plant production specialists from across Canada.
Currently, corn is the preferred source for starches used in bioplastics in North America, but researchers with the BioPotato Network believe that, due to the plentiful nature of potatoes – which grow in every Canadian province and contribute nearly $6 billion to the national economy – the starch-heavy crop makes an ideal substitute.
One article about the new group quotes Dr. Qiang Liu, a food scientist who heads the BioPotato Network’s research team, as saying, "The potato is a starch factory, so there is a lot of raw material available for bioplastics."
According to Dr. Liu, the potato starch is converted into a plastic-like resin that can be heated and shaped into a variety of products through an injection molding process. The resulting material is completely degradable by composting and is an excellent material for food packaging because it allows the food to breathe. "Food packaging made with a blend of potato, wheat and tapioca starch has proven durable enough to be baked in an oven and heated in a microwave, and a few companies have already started selling these bioplastics in Canada," he continued.
With funding through the BioPotato Network, scientists are working to develop potato-based bioplastic film and foam and improve the performance of potato-based bioplastic.
"By examining every aspect of potato starch from molecular properties to the final product, we are working together to create a new generation of degradable bioplastics for the benefit of the future generations," said Dr. Liu.
So much propaganda. So many technical terms. If you're not a scientist, it can feel impossible to know what to believe. (Sometimes, even if you are.) Recyclability or compostability? PLA or oxo? Every article is written by someone with an agenda, everyone seems to have a finger in the pie. What does "biodegradable" mean? What exactly is a "carbon footprint"? And why should I care about it? Why should my business care about it?
If any of this sounds familiar, you should check out the workshop that is coming up, at the Biopackaging from Feedstock to Waste Stream conference in London.
The name of the workshop is "Principles & Concepts of Biobased and Biodegradable Materials/Plastics", and it is being run by Dr Ramani Narayan, University Distinguished Professor at Michigan State University.
I know, I know, conferences and workshops are usually for academics and hardcore industry types. But I contacted Dr. Narayan to find out more about his workshop, and this is what I found out.
Dr. Narayan: Absolutely not. The workshop is especially appropriate for businesses, plastic converters, and the general stakeholder who is inundated with claims, and counter claims, hypes, green washing in the arena of bioplastics and biodegradable plastics. It will answer questions like: Why is "bio" good? How is it good? How does it reduce CO2 emissions, and to what extent? How is it related to global warming?
We will sort through the terminology, the facts and hypes. We will talk about what to look for and, most importantly, what questions to ask.
Dr. Narayan: I will give you an example. You have read and heard about "carbon footprints," of course. Everyone has heard about "reducing the carbon footprint." Sometimes you hear that bioplastics can "reduce the carbon footprint." In this workshop, you'll get to learn and understand -- in simple terms -- exactly what the "carbon footprint" is, and why and how “bio” helps in reducing the carbon footprint. Instead of it being some kind of magical claim, you will learn how to measure it, and how do to verify claims that you hear from people.
Dr. Narayan: Absolutely. You will also learn the myths and false claims about biodegradability, understand the science, and make up your own mind as to which claims are real or false. That is one of the big take-home goals of this workshop: knowing what questions to ask, so you can make informed decisions and make up your own mind about the issues.
This workshop is being held as part of the Biopackaging from Feedstock to Waste Stream conference, from September 8 to 10, in London. Check out their website for details.
The main article begins:
"Mazda Motor Corporation has announced that an industry-government-academia joint research project has achieved an improved exterior surface quality, high-strength, heat-resistant plastic (bioplastic) made of natural materials... An automotive sector first, this new bioplastic is made from natural materials and is carbon neutral because of the reduced amounts of fossil fuels used to make it and the consequent lowered amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions."
How do they get such fantastic properties out of a bioplastic? Well...
"This newly-developed bioplastic is made of 88 percent corn and 12 percent petroleum. Mainly using corn-based polylactic acids, Nishikawa Rubber Co. Ltd, Hiroshima and Kinki Universities focused their efforts on developing a new nucleating agent for crystallization and a compatibilizer compound to raise the strength and heat resistance of the new plastic, dramatically increasing the amount of applications for automobile manufacturing."
Undoubtedly, the purists out there will object to using a material that is even partly petroleum... but the results are undeniable: using a mixture of corn and petroleum can make "almost-green" plastics more useful than ever before.
Bioplastics have been around for a while now, and have even become well-known for both their advantages and their problems. The next step in bioplastic research is taking bioplastics to the next level and overcoming those limitations. Three new news articles are examples of some of these steps.
One criticism of bioplastics (and more specifically, the very common and popular PLA plastic bottles) is that although they are technically biodegradable, they don't break down well in landfills because they do not get enough exposure to air. Enter ENSO Bottles: they have developed bottles made from a form of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which are compostable and biodegradable in both aerobic and anaerobic conditions... meaning they will breakdown even in landfills.
Another criticism of bioplastics is that while degradability is good, premature degradation is not. We need to have bioplastic that can degrade but that can also be stored until it is needed. Enter Xylophane AB, a Swedish company that is piloting a new packing material that is easily biodegradable but also does not suffer from the shortened shelf-life of most bio-based packing materials.
Finally, bioplastics have been criticized when natural biodegradable polymers are combined with NON-biodegradable additives, to produce an end product that has only questionable benefit for the environment. Enter Purac and AkzoNobel, two chemical manufacturing companies in the Netherlands that have created a set of bio-additives specifically designed to be added to PLA to improve its range of plastic properties.
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