| Bioplastic: The Future of Plastics |
| Monday, 13 September 2010 | Marita Prandoni | Article |
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Since the 1960s, our inventions have become more malleable, and plastic has generally been their medium. Plastics have revolutionized medicine—as bone replacements, prosthetics and synthetic hearts. Plastic pipes and filters are easy to mass-produce and transport inexpensively. In the packaging industry, paper products require 36 times the electricity to produce, and glass is 14 times heavier. Plastic is in our clothing, toys, computers and outdoor survival gear. There’s no question that plastics have brought the world many advances. What Goes Around, Comes Around A company in Germany, Tecnaro GmbH has been making a bioplastic out of lignin, which is an abundant natural polymer in trees and a byproduct in the cellulose pulping process—paper making. Their product is called Arboform® (arbo is Latin for tree) and contains 100% renewable raw materials—lignin, wood, hemp and flax fiber. It can be molded like plastic and emits no more carbon dioxide (CO2) than extracted from the atmosphere to grow the plants in the first place.Cereplast, based in Hawthorne, California, makes compostable plastics that substitute at least 50% of the petroleum in traditional plastic with corn, potato, wheat and tapioca starch. They can be made with conventional manufacturing equipment and use lower temperatures and less energy for molding, thermoforming and extruding products like disposable cutlery, food containers and straws.Metabolix combines biotechnology with advanced industrial practice to produce the Mirel line of bioplastics, made of sugar and vegetable oils, biodegradable in compost and in both fresh and marine water. Their process uses 95% less energy than the manufacture of products from conventional plastic. Mirel products include packaging, flushable products, consumer electronics, and agricultural and marine netting.Green chemist Geoffrey Coates, co-founder and chief scientific officer of Novomer, found a way to make biodegradable plastics by combining benign catalysts with carbon monoxide and CO2, plentiful in the form of air pollution. Novomer’s plastics are biologically based and made at room temperature, using relatively little energy. They can be used in the medical industry for heart stents or surgical materials that safely degrade within the human body after surgery. Another advantage to Novomer’s plastics is that they don’t displace food production.Just as Mr. McGuire speculated, we have been seduced by the convenience of portable, moldable plastics, especially throwaway packaging. But there is no “-away;” its waste is no longer concealable. It is laid bare across our landscapes and in our waterways and oceans. Bioplastics offer hope in ushering out petrochemical plastic and reducing our dependence on oil. Until then, solving the problem of plastic’s prevalence begins with us, as consumers, and our commitment to cutting demand, a critical mind-set that requires widespread awareness and adoption. Updated 9/13/10; originally posted 4/2/09.
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Written by Marita Prandoni , September 13, 2010
Caroline, Do you mean taxing petroleum-based plastic to discourage its consumption to usher in more benign plastics? That sounds great to me. I haven't bought plastic wrap for years and have found it easy to reduce plastic consumption. Since I first wrote this article, I have learned that Novomer was recently awarded $18.4M in Federal Stimulus Funds by U.S. Department of Energy. So it looks like the DOE is taking note, at least.
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Written by Caroline Webb , September 13, 2010
The day will come when plastics from oil cease to pollute the world. How much longer do we have to wait however? Are these materials more expensive than oil-based plastic? Any chance that taxes could subsidize their use by society and hasten their arrival into mass production?
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Written by MPrandoni , August 14, 2009
To my knowledge, and after some quick web research, it appears bioplastics for cardiology are still in the developmental stages. But you could ask your doctor if he/she knows of any bioplastic applications in medicine?
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Written by Angioplasty , August 14, 2009
so this is the stuff they would use for my angioplasty?
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Mr. McGuire: I want to say one word to you. Just one word.
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