They sound more at home on a beach than in a laboratory – but shrimp shells and algae are just two of the natural materials scientists are working with to develop more sustainable types of plastic.
In a sector predicted to be worth around $7.2bn (£5.5bn) by 2022, the race is on to develop materials that can take the place of oil-based plastics, which can have a detrimental effect on the oceans, wildlife and public health.
Californian company Full Cycle Bioplastics has developed a technique for turning food scraps and other organic waste into a compostable plastic; it claims the material will be as cheap as oil-based plastics when produced at scale.
The company’s chief executive, Andrew Falcon, expects to have a demonstration plant up and running early next year. He says the invention has the potential to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and ease plastics pollution: in the ocean, or on land, the material would break down without leaching toxins into the environment, he says.
The product belongs to a family of bioplastics known as polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) – polymers generated by certain bacteria when they are fed foods, including sugars.
First discovered decades ago, they have been held back from commercial success by high production prices. But technological breakthroughs and rising investment are shifting the landscape, and PHA production is set to nearly quadruple between 2016 and 2021 according to European Bioplastics, a trade association.
But as the range of materials grows, so do concerns about consumer confusion and greenwash, with campaigners warning that they aren’t a magic bullet for our plastics crisis.
Consumer Confusion
Rob Opsomer, new plastics economy lead at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the British charity set up by the former solo long-distance yachtswoman, believes that certain bioplastics can bring benefits if disposed of appropriately. But he worries that the baffling range of labels – compostable, biodegradable, bio-based – can leave consumers unsure of what to do with their bioplastics once they’re finished with them.
Most compostable plastics, for example, can’t simply be chucked in your garden, he explains – they need to be sent to an industrial composting facility. And while people may assume that bio-based products are all biodegradable, many aren’t, he adds. Coca Cola’s PlantBottle, for example, though partly derived from sugarcane, is chemically identical to hard-to-breakdown polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles. On the plus side, it can be recycled many times; on the downside, it won’t breakdown for centuries.
“It is important that any claims made for these products are really clear, so people won’t be throwing things on the street because they think it will degrade,” says Opsomer. “It won’t.”
To read the full story, visit https://www.theguardian.com/business-to-business/2017/oct/31/the-plastics-problem-are-natural-alternatives-doing-more-harm-than-good.