Plastics hydro-biodegradable

A primary target for degradable plastics is in waste and litter control and most manufacturers of such materials have made claim to the environmental acceptability of their products as replacements for the commodity packaging polymers. A primary criterion of acceptability is cost and few hydro-biodegradable polymers can at the moment approach the hydrocarbon polymers in this respect. Consequently, in the following Sections the emphasis will be on synthetic commodity polymers with enhanced biodegradability in the natural environment. By way of clarification. 

Materials such as metal, plastic, wood, paper, and leather are coated with pofymers primarily for protection and for the improvement of their properties. For this purpose, cellulose acetate (CA), cellulose acetate propionate (CAP), and cellulose acetate butyrate (CAB) are the most important classical and solvent-based cellulose esters of the coating industry [44]. Cellulose esters are widely used in composites and laminates as binder, filler, and laminate %ers. In combination with natural fibres, they can be used to some extent as composites from sustainable raw materials with good biodegradability. An additional domain of cellulose esters is their use in controlled-release systems, as well as membranes and other separation media [44, 47]. In the field of controlled-release systems, eellulose esters are used as enteric coatings, hydro-phobic matrices, and semipermeable membranes for appheations in pharmacy, agriculture, and cosmetics. 

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