Today, there is a bioplastic alternative for almost every conventional plastic material and corresponding application. Bioplastics – plastics that are biobased, biodegradable, or both – can have the same properties as conventional plastics and offer additional advantages, such as a reduced carbon footprint or additional waste management options such as industrial composting. Some [...]
There is no common agreement on a minimal value yet due to varying regional regulations in Europe. In Japan an industry-wide commitment sets the “biomass margin” at “25 percent renewable material”. According to the USDA Bio-preferred Programme, “the minimum share of renewable material ranges from 7 to 95 percent” depending on defined product [...]
Bioplastics are a diverse family of materials with differing properties. There are three main groups: Biobased (or partially biobased), durable plastics such as biobased polyethylene (PE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET) (so-called drop-in solutions), biobased technical performance polymers, such as numerous polyamides (PA), or (partly) biobased polyurethanes (PUR); Biobased and biodegradable, compostable plastics, such as [...]
Today, bioplastics are mostly made of carbohydrate-rich plants such as corn, sugar cane or sugar beet – so-called food crops or first generation feedstock. First generation feedstock is currently the most efficient for the production of bioplastics, as it requires the least amount of land to grow and produces the highest yields. The [...]