Environmental performance of bio-based and biodegradable plastics: the road ahead

Chem. Soc. Rev., 2017, Advance Article

Abstract

Future plastic materials will be very different from those that are used today. The increasing importance of sustainability promotes the
development of bio-based and biodegradable polymers, sometimes misleadingly referred to as ‘bioplastics’. Because both terms imply
“green” sources and “clean” removal, this paper aims at critically discussing the sometimes-conflicting terminology as well as renewable
sources with a special focus on the degradation of these polymers innatural environments.

With regard to the former we review innovations in feedstock development (e.g. microalgae and food wastes). In terms of the
latter, we highlight the effects that polymer structure, additives, and environmental variables have on plastic biodegradability. We argue that
the ‘biodegradable’ end-product does not necessarily degrade once emitted to the environment because chemical additives used to make them fit for purpose will increase the longevity.

In the future, this trend may continue as the plastics industry also is expected to be a major user of nanocomposites. Overall, there is a need to assess the performance of polymer innovations in terms of their biodegradability especially under realistic waste management and environmental conditions, to avoid the unwanted release of plastic degradation products in receiving environments.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C7CS00149E

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http://www.3rfish.org/en/proyecto.html

Integral Management Model of recovery and recycling of the proper solid
wastes from the fishing and port activities
(3RFISH)

3R FISH is a project launched within the framework of the European
programme LIFE+ (Component 2: Environment Policy and Governance, 2007)
to be implemented over the period 2009-2011.

The main objective is to improve the quality of marine waters and seabed
through the correct use of the devices and equipment that are handling
in the fishing sector, together with the proper solid waste management
and recycling from those activities. It represents a key component in a
strategy of fisheries and ports? sustainable development, according to
the European Union (EU) policy guidelines, as the Common Fisheries
Policy, the Integrated Maritime Policy, the Integrated Coastal Zone
Management and the Thematic Strategy on the prevention and recycling of
waste.

http://www.3rfish.org/en/documentacion.html

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New Science paper calculates magnitude of plastic waste going into the ocean
8 MILLION METRIC TONS OF PLASTIC ENTER THE OCEANS PER YEAR

February 12, 2015

Writer: Stephanie Schupska
Contact: Jenna Jambeck ,

Athens, Ga. – A plastic grocery bag cartwheels down the beach until a
gust of wind spins it into the ocean. In 192 coastal countries, this
scenario plays out over and over again as discarded beverage bottles,
food wrappers, toys and other bits of plastic make their way from
estuaries, seashores and uncontrolled landfills to settle in the world’s
seas.

How much mismanaged plastic waste is making its way from land to ocean
has been a decades-long guessing game. Now, the University of Georgia’s
Jenna Jambeck and her colleagues in the National Center for Ecological
Analysis and Synthesis working group have put a number on the global
problem.

Their study, reported in the Feb. 13 edition of the journal Science,
found between 4.8 and 12.7 million metric tons of plastic entered the
ocean in 2010 from people living within 50 kilometers of the coastline.
That year, a total of 275 million metric tons of plastic waste was
generated in those 192 coastal countries.

Jambeck, an assistant professor of environmental engineering in the UGA
College of Engineering and the study’s lead author, explains the amount
of plastic moving from land to ocean each year using 8 million metric
tons as the midpoint: „Eight million metric tons is the equivalent to
finding five grocery bags full of plastic on every foot of coastline in
the 192 countries we examined.“

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Jenna R. Jambeck, Roland Geyer, Chris Wilcox, Theodore R. Siegler,
Miriam Perryman, Anthony Andrady, Ramani Narayan, and Kara Lavender Law
Science 13 February 2015:
Vol. 347 no. 6223 pp. 768-771
DOI: 10.1126/science.1260352

Abstract
Plastic debris in the marine environment is widely documented, but the
quantity of plastic entering the ocean from waste generated on land is
unknown. By linking worldwide data on solid waste, population density,
and economic status, we estimated the mass of land-based plastic waste
entering the ocean. We calculate that 275 million metric tons (MT) of
plastic waste was generated in 192 coastal countries in 2010, with 4.8
to 12.7 million MT entering the ocean. Population size and the quality
of waste management systems largely determine which countries contribute
the greatest mass of uncaptured waste available to become plastic marine
debris. Without waste management infrastructure improvements, the
cumulative quantity of plastic waste available to enter the ocean from
land is predicted to increase by an order of magnitude by 2025.

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/347/6223/768/suppl/DC1

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/suppl/2015/02/11/347.6223.768.DC1/Jambeck.SM.pdf

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