Disposability, biodegradable materials

Biodegradable materials are created specifically with recyclability or disposal in mind. Recycling techniques for post-consumer biodegradable plastic products have two important features, which distinguish them from conventional polymers their biodegradability or compostability and the use of renewable resources in their manufacture. 

Sunway offers disposable tableware made of biodegradable materials. The product range includes cups, plates, dishes, cutlery, drinking straws and decorations. 

Cleaning Up Since sucrose, yeast, and ethanol are all natural products, all solutions produced in this experiment contain biodegradable material and can be flushed down the drain after dilution with water. The limewater can be disposed of in the same way. The Celite filter aid can be placed in the nonhazardous solid waste container. 

The first example can be found in disposable consumer products. In products which are designed for single-use, the shorter shelf-life of degradable polymers is not an issue. Especially in nappies, feminine hygiene products and wet wipes, biodegradable materials present interesting alternatives [169]. 

PHAs have frequently been championed as a solution to sustainable polymer production. This is because they can be produced from renewable raw materials and are biodegradable upon disposal. However, an inventory of materials and energy required to produce these polymers reveals a rather discouraging picture. In most categories quantifying environmental impact (land use, resource depletion and emissions to air and water) PHA production by fermentation scores worse than conventional petrochemical polymer production. 

Man-made poly vinyl alcohol (PVA) films and fibers are polymer materials that are known to biodegrade when disposed in the outside environment. This is attributed to the hydrophilic property of PVA. In spite of a number of published papers on PVA, the thermal and mechanical properties remain an unresolved problem because of the difficulty in measuring the much smaller change in crystallinity with respect to temperature in comparison with poly-a-olefln polymers such as polyethylene and polypropylene. 

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