Degradable disposable consumer products

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]. 

Plastics produced from petroleum-based raw materials in the form of single-use consumer products ate of environmental concern, as most of these materials do not degrade when disposed in the environment after their useful life is over . Currently, systematic collection of plastic waste for recycling and/or disposal is expensive and is limited only to certain communities. Particularly, when plastics are contaminated with soil, foods or other chemicals their recycling become rather difficult. As a result, in the last decade, significant efforts have been made to develop environmentally... 

The PHB as a biodegradable thermoplastic has captured the attention for more than 30 years, due to their similar properties to various thermoplastics and elastomers, which have been used in consumer products, and completely degraded to water and carbon dioxide upon disposal under various enviromnents (Choi and Lee, 1999). However, the inefficient and expensive production and recovery methods, lack of detailed knowledge about the cultural conditions regulating PHB production, need of gene transfer from efficient PHB producer to easily cultivable organisms have hampered... 

Understanding the environmental degradation of PLA is very important because more than 100,000 MT of PLA are produced annually — mainly for consumer products and packaging. Therefore, most of this PLA wdl be disposed in landfill sites after a short period of use. PLA undergoes biodegradation via... 

Despite their undesirable durability after disposal, plastics are hard to replace because of their low cost and versatility. Plasticwares are inexpensive mainly because they can be mass-produced from historically inexpensive raw materials. The thermoplastics have allowed the use of machines and procedures to mass-produce a very wide range of consumer products. It is thus obvious that if a low-cost, environmentally degradable thermoplastic is available, the new material will allow the continued production of inexpensive but nonpolluting plasticwares for the future generations. This need is the driving force for active research on PHAs. 

In 1992, about 15% (386000 mt) of the post consumer waste in the USA consisted of degradable plastics , including retail bags, refuse bags, agricultural mulch, beverage containers and disposable polystyrene products. 

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has requirements [485] for products that make environmental marketing claims of biodegradability. A product claim should be substantiated by competent and reliable scientific evidence that the entire product will completely breakdown and return to nature, i.e., decompose into elements found in nature within a reasonably short time after customary disposal. Claims should be qualified to the extent necessary to avoid consumer deception about the products ability to degrade in the environment, where it is customarily disposed, and the rate and extent of degradation. 

Poly(ethylene terephthalate), PET, has become one of the major post-consumer plastic wastes. PET products do not present a direct threat to the environment, but they do pose a problem of considerable concern due to the huge amount of solid waste produced [1]. The disposal of this waste together with its low bio-degradability and photo-degradability, now represents a serious challenge for industrial countries worldwide. 

In addition to ensuring compostability, certification enables biologically degradable products to be identified by way of clear labelling. The compostability mark (Eig. 1.3) serves to inform both waste consumers and disposers and the product must bear the inscription compostable as well as the registration number assigned to it during the certification process. 

PLA is a suitable substitute for existing petrochemical polymers in the manufacture of cups, containers and packaging. PLA is known to degrade well when disposed along with municipal waste, and so is less of a burden to the environment. Unlike petrochemical polymers such as PE, PP, PET, PC and PS, which require one hundred years to break down into harmless substances, PLA is fully compostable and is accepted as a green product, especially in Japan, the United States and EU countries. Several reports have been published about the eco-efficiency of PLA post-consumer, and this has been compared to conventional plastics. These reports have included PLA cups (Vercalsteren et al., 2010), clamshells (Kruger et al., 2009) and wrappings (Hermann et al., 2010). 

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