Biobased Conventional Plastics

Several conventional plastics can be produced from organic sources. Biobased polyethylene and biobased PET resins are currently available. Other plastics can be produced with biobased sources Table 5.1 lists the biobased plastics that are commercially available. 

Biobased polyethylene is currently available from Braskem and DOW Chemical Company. Biobased polyethylene can be made from sugarcane or other agricultural materials. 

Sustainable Plastics Environmental Assessments of Biobased, Biodegradable, and Recycled Plastics, First Edition. Joseph P. Greene. 

Biobased polyethylene Polyethylene Braskem, DOW Chemical Blown film, sheet, bottles, packaging products, fibers, etc. 

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Sustainable plastics are those plastics made with lower energy, lower carbon footprint, lower waste, and lower pollution than conventional plastics. Plastics that are made from plants or biobased sources and from recycled plastics can be made with lower energy, lower carbon footprint, lower waste, and lower pollution than conventional plastics. Biobased polyethylene, propylene, and PET can be made from sugarcane or other agricultural materials. Biobased plastics can be made with nearly identical mechanical properties as conventional petroleum-based plastics and can be manufactured on identical plastics processing equipment. 

The persistent problem of conventional plastic waste disposal grows ever more severe as landfills approach capacity with these highly degradation-resistant substances (Section 12-15). Biodegradable plastics provide an option for nonre-usable items such as plastic bags, wraps, and bottles. A recently developed and commercialized biobased and biodegradable plastic is poly(jS-hydroxybutyrate-co-/3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV), a copolymer of 3-hydroxybutanoic acid and 3-hydroxypentanoic acid. PHBV is a polyester that is produced by bacterial fermentation of mixtures of acetic and propanoic acids. The ratio of the two hydroxy acids controls the properties of the plastic—it is more flexible with more... 

There continue to be efforts to develop additional biobased plastics. Generally these are produced by conventional polymerization methods from biologically derived monomers (usually produced by fermentation from starch, sugar, or cellulose). And, the resulting plastics are most often not biodegradable. 

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