Non-biodegradable petroleum-based

Irrigation pipes are conventionally made from non biodegradable petroleum-based plastics such as poly(ethylene) or poly(propylene) (PP). As a result, conventional irrigation pipes that are discarded are generally not readily recycled into the environment and add to pollution stress of the environment. In addition, because petroleum is a non-renewable raw material, it is expected that raw material costs for producing irrigation pipes from petroleum-based plastics will increase (7). 

Blending with Non-biodegradable Petroleum-based Polymers... 

A novel non-petroleum based biodegradable plastic produced from sugar based agricultural raw materials as sweet sorghum, sugarcane and molasses, having potential properties comparable with conventional or synthetic plastics, is under development and could lower the contribution of plastic wastes to municipal landfills at about 20% of the total waste by volume and 10% by weight and can achieve a satisfactory for the environmental imperative. 

The increased importance of renewable resources for raw materials and recyclability or biodegradability of the material at the end of its useful life is demanding a shift from petroleum-based synthetics to agro-based materials in industrial applications. Increased social awareness of environmental problems posed by the non-degradable, non-recyclable content of their products is forcing manufacturers to enhance the biodegradable content, which in turn favors a switch to biomaterials [1]. 

Biodegradable biopolymers (BDP) are an alternative to petroleum-based polymers (traditional plastics). It will be important to find durable plastic substitutes, especially in short-term packaging and disposable applications. The continuously growing public concern concerning this problem has stimulated research interest in biodegradable polymers as alternatives to conventional non-degradable polymers such as polyethylene and polystyrene, etc. The economic value of renewable raw materials will increase to a significant extent [1] and induce new industrial activities [2,3]. 

Abstract Biopolymers are expected to be an alternative for conventional plastics due to the limited resources and soaring petroleum price which will restrict the use of petroleum based plastics in the near future. PLA has attracted the attention of polymer scientist recently as a potential biopolymer to substitute the conventional petroleum based plastics. The chapter aims to highlight on the recent developments in preparation and characterization of PLA blends (biodegradable and non-biodegradable blends), PLA composites (natural fiber and mineral fillers) and PLA nanocomposites (PLA/montmorillonite, PLA/carbon nanotubes and PLA/cellulose nano whiskers). 

Biomaterials have gained attractiveness in the last decades due to both ecological and economic concerns. Increased pollution, and especially visible pollution, has first driven the scientific and industrial communities to look at biofragmentable and biodegradable substitutes for traditional petroleum-based non-biodegradable materials. Then the dramatic increase of oil prices before the economic crisis of 2007 influenced the move from the biodegradable to the bio-based. Finally, the compliance of the obtained materials with thermo-mechanical constraints has turned interest to the partially bio-based materials. 

Due to their renewabdity, abundance, biodegradability, non-food agricultural based economy, and low cost, biopolymers such as cellulose fibers remain the promising materials to mitigate the over dependence on petroleum-based sources as the lat-... 

Recent studies have shown that natural polysaccharides such as starch, chito-san, cellulose, and their derivatives are safer, cheaper, and environmentally fiiendly substrates for incorporation in the development of a number of polymer materials, which are used in the biomedical field, food industry and mai other industries, where, presently petroleum-based synthetic polymers are used in abundance. Due to the harmful effects such as toxicity, non-biodegradability and the disposal problems associated with such materials, natural polysaccharides have been investigated as substitutes for synthetic polymers (Beiger et al., 2005 Bhuniya et al., 2003 Chen et al., 2004a Coviello et al., 2005 Reis et al., 2008). 

As mentioned previously, biodegradable polymers can be derived from both petroleum and renewable sources. Both types of biodegradable polymers have attracted attention in the industry. Petroleum-based biodegradable polymers may help to overcome the accumulation of non-degradable plastic waste. However, renewable biodegradable polymers not only possess biodegradability, but the polymers are also derived from sustainable sources with environmental credit. 

The environmental deterioration by solid waste from petroleum based packaging materials (Jayasekara and others, 2004). Consumer awareness about enviromnen-tal damage by non-degradable packaging sources is playing an importance role in the increased use of biodegradable plastics (Elizondo and others 2009). Starch has... 

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