Bioplastics: The Stuff of (Sustainable) Genius

Marshall Brain

Behold biodegradable plastics. But where do they come from, or in this case, maybe it’s better to ask where are these plastics going? You can find plastics in almost every industry imaginable. Conventional plastics are made from oil, and at a molecular level, they’re composed of molecules called polymers which are in turn made of smaller compounds called monomers. Combining different monomers can produce various kinds of plastic, which can have different chemical properties. But plastic isn’t perfect. Plastic can contain toxic additives and plastics degrade very slowly, adding to Earth’s pollution. For decades scientists have been trying to come up with materials that can perform as well as plastic without the environmental drawbacks.

The good news is that biodegradable plastics have been around for some time. Bioplastics are made from biological materials instead of fossil fuels. One of the first biodegradable plastics was cellophane made by Jacque Brandenberger and sold to DuPont in the 1920s. Cellophane is made from plant and tree cellulose, which renders it 100 percent biodegradable. And cellophane isn’t the only bioplastic. The most common bioplastics are starch based, like polylactide or PLA plastics, which are made from corn starch. There’s also polyhydroxybutyrate, or PHB biocomposites, which are made from bacteria. Scientists have even figured out how to use a paper mill pulp byproduct called lignin to create a biopolymer called liquid wood. Today, scientists around the world continue researching the newest sustainable replacements for conventional plastic. As societies move away from reliance on fossil fuels, the future of bioplastics looks brighter each year.

So how genius are these plastics? On the American Dream scale, bioplastics get a five. Bioplastics take a good idea, the convenience and flexibility of plastic, and tweak it to remove the drawbacks of oil based plastics. On the benefits to humanity scale bioplastics get a four. They’re less harmful to the environment, but there are still concerns about the long-term effects of some bioplastics, especially those made from food products. On the ripple effect scale, bioplastics get a three. The bioplastic industry is poised to grow, and as research continues, bioplastics may become the primary plastic of the future.