Bioplastics: The Future of Everyday Sustainability?
(Via Author)
Introduction
I have never met a person who likes having a home filled with trash. Plastic containers, packing peanuts, plastic bags, and more, all pile up fast in the home, right? Naturally, most do what they can to get rid of them, to keep the space clean. So how come we let that plastic waste build up in our towns? Our oceans? More importantly, why aren’t more people thinking about preventing further damage to our beautiful Earth?
My name is Rhaksha, and I want to explore bioplastics as a potential alternative to conventional plastics, and the impact that moving away from fossil fuel-based plastics could have on the environment.
Many of the plastics that consumers use every day are made out of nonrenewable materials that take many years to break down, usually instead crumbling up into microscopic fragments that poison humans and wildlife rather than fully disappearing. These impacts on ecosystems and human health are widespread and severe, creating issues that impact current and future generations. Issues revolving around plastic pollution and its solutions are deeply tied to both social and environmental justice in any ways. These are problems that will inevitably find their way into every single life.
Bioplastics are plastic substances that are made with renewable, biodegradable materials. They have a reduced impact on the environment both in production and in disposal, offering a path to a sustainable future without sacrificing use of the greatly versatile material that is plastic. Could they be a solution?
At a glance
(Via NOAA.gov)
- Oceanic plastic litter persists for hundreds of years, potentially indefinitely (NOAA). Plastic pollution will not only impact people now, it will follow humans for generations to come (NOAA, 2024).
- Plastic pollution is inextricably connected with social justice, especially to indigenous and marginalized communities. There is strong evidence supporting the idea that plastic waste “disproportionately ends up in impoverished, marginalized, racialized, and Indigenous communities in both low- and high-income countries” (Dauvergne, 2023).
- Microplastics, broken down <5mm pieces of plastic debris, have many negative impacts found in marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Drinking water, foods (like salt), marine organisms, and even air that we breathe, have all been contaminated with microplastics. The full implications of this contamination are currently unknown, but animal studies have shown that the plastic micro and nanoparticles can spread all throughout the body and inhibit many important biological functions (Ziani et al., 2023).
- Bioplastics can be made with a variety of sources including waste from both the seafood industry and agriculture. Use of these sources goes beyond waste repurposing that is good for the environment, it also reduces material costs which could make bioplastic production more accessible (Ali et al., 2023). Bioplastics are a viable path!
Old Plastic, New Plastic
(Via pxhere.com)
Because of heavy plastic use and poor waste management, microplastics have become widespread in air, water and soil, leading to major environmental pollution. They have been found in ecosystems from surface waters to deep environments, as well as in rain and snow. Microplastics can also transfer from packaging into food, contaminating it and potentially altering its nutritional quality and safety. This contamination threatens ecosystems and raises large concern for human health through both exposure and consumption (Ziani et al., 2023).
5 major benefits to bioplastics instead (Kumar et al., 2023):
Less greenhouse gas emissions
Can actually blend back into the environment
Leads to less buildup
Will reduce dependence on fossil fuels
Will let ecosystems start to recover from plastic accumulation
Bioplastics are a promising alternative to conventional plastics because they can help address major issues like waste mismanagement and environmental pollution. Conventional plastics rely heavily on fossil-derived materials and are rarely recycled, with less than 10% being reused globally. Bioplastics, however, are designed to be more sustainable, often using renewable resources and supporting change towards a circular system rather than a one-time use model. Challenges remain but their development shows a shift for materials that reduce environmental impact and improve sustainability (Lackner et al., 2023).
How Santa Cruz is Making Change, Including You!
(Via publicdomainpictures.net)
An awesome example of local change in bioplastics is the company Cruz Foam. They primarily make products like packing peanuts out of chitin, an abundant biopolymer from shrimp (and other arthropods) shells, sourced from seafood waste. They have been on a mission to turn single use products renewable, starting up right in the Westside of Santa Cruz!
You don’t have to be a whole start up company to make a difference to plastic pollution though. There are a many convenient ways for anybody to get involved, including:
1. Educate yourself! Read up on plastic pollution and potential solutions, and spread the news to people in your life. Here are some cool places connected to this piece that you could check out, right now:
2. If you see an alternative to a plastic product, choose it! A common example of a plastic-alternative product is found in drinking straws. Many places now have straws made of materials like potato starch available (and these straws won’t disintegrate into your drink like paper ones tend to…). If you see one while you’re in need of a straw, try it out! Every product people can use in everyday life that isn’t made of plastic is a step in the right direction.
3. Join a local beach cleanup! Or river cleanup, sidewalk cleanup, etc., really anything that involves picking up waste. If we can get litter off the streets and away from the ocean, we are making a difference in the accumulation of plastic and other trash.
There are so many great ways that people have found to make a difference, either by preventing future pollution, or cleaning up what is already out there.
Concluding thoughts
“A reduction of plastic consumption is the first step to be considered, and there are high-risk and unnecessary, very short-lived, single-use products, which should not just be made from biodegradable plastics but be phased out for good” (Lackner et al., 2023)
However, the demand for plastics grows with the worlds population, so bioplastics are there to fill the need for products, in a more sustainable way than before.
While bioplastics are only one part of the solution, they are a step in the right direction for the future. By engaging with bioplastics and other sustainable products/actions, anybody can contribute to a cleaner world for our future generations.
References
Ali, Z., Abdullah, M., Talha Yasin, M., Amanat, K., Ahmad, K., Ahmed, I., Qaisrani , M. M., & Khan, J. (2023, December 22). Organic waste-to-bioplastics: Conversion with eco-friendly technologies and approaches for sustainable environment. ScienceDirect. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0013935123027536
Dauvergne, P. (2023, August 7). The necessity of justice for a fair, legitimate, and effective treaty on plastic pollution. ScienceDirect. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0308597X23003184
Kumar, R., Lalnundiki, V., Shelare, S. D., Abhishek, G. J., Sharma, S., Sharma, D., Kumar, A., & Abbas, M. (2023, December 22). An investigation of the environmental implications of bioplastics: Recent advancements on the development of environmentally friendly bioplastics solutions. ScienceDirect. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0013935123025112
Lackner, M., Mukherjee, A., & Koller, M. (2023, December 13). What Are “Bioplastics”? Defining Renewability, Biosynthesis, Biodegradability, and Biocompatibility. Polymers, 15(24), 4695. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15244695
NOAA. (2024, June 16). A guide to plastic in the Ocean. NOAA’s National Ocean Service. https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/hazards/marinedebris/plastics-in-the-ocean.html
Public Domain Pictures. (n.d.). Foam peanuts [Photograph]. https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/view-image.php?image=304290&picture=foam-peanut
Sleeper, A. (2023, July 3). Westside’s Cruz Foam launches new eco-friendly packaging products. Cruz Foam. https://cruzfoam.com/post/westside-s-cruz-foam-launches-new-eco-friendly-packaging-product/
Ziani, K., Ioniță-Mîndrican, C.-B., Mititelu, M., Neacșu, S. M., Negrei, C., Moroșan, E., Drăgănescu, D., & Preda, O.-T. (2023). Microplastics: A real global threat for environment and food safety: A state of the art review. Nutrients. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9920460/
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