Biobased definition

The basic class definitions and other infrastructure are provided in the Biobase package. The base class is the eSet and it has places to store assay data, phenotypic information, and data about the features that were measured and about the experiment that was performed to collect these data. This basic class can then be extended in many different ways, specializing in some of the inputs, and in some cases adding new slots that are relevant to a specific type of experiment. The eSet class has been extended to support expression data, SNP data, and genomic annotation. For expression data the ExpressionSet class has been defined, and it too is quite general. The class can be used for any sort of expression (and is in no way restricted to microarray experiments for mRNA expression, although that is where it is used most). Similar data structures have been used for representing data from experiments in protein mass spectrometry and flow cytometry. 

The language used to describe these new (or sometimes old ) materials can be confusing, and too often is misused. One particularly problematic term is bioplastics. One common definition for bioplastics is plastics that are either biodegradable or made from renewable sources a clear recipe for confusion. We will not use this term. Rather, we will use the term biobased plastics to refer to plastics made from biological sources (typically plants). The plastics may be made directly by biological organisms (e.g., polyhydroxyalkanoates) or by chemical polymerization of monomers made from such sources (e.g., polylactide). Plastics may also be partially biobased (such as the CocaCola PlantBottle made from PET that is partially biobased). 

A big step in the direction of biobased polymer synthesis - moving away from petroleum and toward sugar, cellulose, starch, oils and fats, or lignin for raw materials - will definitely change the face of polymer chemistry. 

The terms biobased and biobased products will be used very often in this chapter and it is therefore essential to understand what is meant by them. There are many definitions around in the technical and scientific community and in the pubUc and they all not always mean the same. 

Both definitions consider biobased products as nonfood products, but only the European proposal excludes fossil resources explicitly. It is also essential to under-... 

Although the above definition describes bio-based plastics rather unambiguously, some confusion still can be noticed, mainly due to the use of the inaccurate term bioplastics . The prefix bio- in bioplastics sometimes is used not to indicate the origin of the material ( biobased ) but to express a bio -functionality of the material, in general either biodegradability or biocompatibility. 

Sustainability has many definitions. One way to think of it is meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs (defined by the World Commission on Environment and Development held by the United Nations in 1983). The concept of sustainability is that we should synchronize our consumption of natural resources with the Earth s production - in other words, using up natural resources at the same rate at which they are produced. Compared to traditional polymers typically made from petroleum and other fossil resources such as natural gas, sustainable polymers are fuUy or partially biobased and/or biodegradable or compostable. They are bioplastics made from renewable resources (biomass) and can be broken down faster than traditional plastics. Sustainable polymers could also protect our Earth by offering a reduced carbon footprint, a reduced use of fossil resources, and improved end-of-life options. 

Biobased and biodegradable polymers have two different meanings. Biobased products are materi s made from some amount of biobased materials (Narayan 2006). Biobased products were defined in the 2002 Farm Bill as commercial or industrial products that are composed in whole, or in significant part, of biological products, renewable agricultural materials, or forestry materials. The definition was expanded with the 2008 Farm Bill that incorporated biobased intermediate ingredients or feedstock (Biobased 2013). 

Plastic packaging can be produced with sustainable plastics through the use of the definitions presented above. Plastic packaging products account for approximately 30% of the plastics sold in the United States, and approximately 27% of the plastic products sold in Europe (Beswick and Dunn 2002). Sustainable plastic packaging can be made from recycled plastics or biobased plastics, like PHA, PLA, starch, and others. Life cycle assessments can be used to compare environmental impacts of using recycled or biobased plastic materials for plastic packaging products. 

Environmental impacts of sustainable plastic containers can be determined with the LCA information and the definitions of sustainable plastics. The sustainable plastic containers can be made of recycled plastic or biobased plastics. The end-of-life for the plastic is either recycled or composted. Thus, polystyrene is not considered because sufficient recycled plastic is not available. As a comparison, virgin PET is evaluated for LCA. Recycled PET and biobased PLA can be compared for clear sustainable plastic containers. The LCA information from Madival et al. 2009 is used as a starting point. Then, WARM model from ERA is... 

Sustainable plastics can include biobased, biodegradable, and recycled plastics. LCAs will be used to provide a scientific explanation of sustainable plastics. The content of the book includes definitions of sustainability and sustainable materials, evaluations of the environmental concerns for industry, definitions of life cycle assessments, explanations of biobased and recycled plastics, and examples of sustainable plastics as defined by LCAs. 

According to Comite Europeen de Normalisation/ Comite Europeen de Normalisation en filectronique et en Electrotechnique (CEN/CENELEC) Technical Specification TC 249 WI [11], bioplastics (and biopolymers as well) can be either biobased or biodegradable, or both. We refer to this definition when using the term bioplastics throughout the chapter. 

While low yields are a definite economic handicap, they may be an even more severe environmental (and by consequence an economic) handicap. Whatever portion of the raw material is not converted to saleable products becomes waste instead. These wastes must be treated before disposal, if disposal is possible. Liquid wastes from biobased products will likely be characterized by relatively low... 

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