what is degradabilit of bioplastics
Answers
which are biodegradable or derivative of plant raw materials are referred to as bioplastics (Shen, Worrell & Patel, 2009). There has been an increasing interest in application of bioplastics in the world today. This is attributed to the increasing prices in oil prices and the decreased supply for raw materials used to manufacture petrochemicals. Bioplastics are similar to traditional plastics in their application but the difference is that they are characteristic biodegradable in a specified composting cycle. Environmentalists have also been in the look out for clean and sustainable environment and therefore a demand for products that are environmentally friendly. The impacts of global warming on the environment due to the continued production of conventional plastics have been an issue on the rise. This is especially in regard to the amounts of energy consumed and the effects of greenhouse in some specified areas (IBAW, 2005).
Studies have however shown that while most bioplastics are biodegradable, some which are categorized as durables are non-biodegradable. These are fundamentally based on fossil resources including and not limited to poly-ethylene. Bioplastics materials are said to be biodegradable because of the fact that they can undergo degradation process when micro-organisms act on them eventually giving water, carbon dioxide gas, organic compounds such as methane and biomass. Biodegradation process is said to be a cell-initiated process that uses micro-organisms, enzymes, bacteria and fungi. On the other hand, compostable plastics can undergo degradation process due some specific biological processes. The biological processes takes place during the composting process and the material is eventually converted to carbon dioxide gas, water vapor and organic compounds such as biomass (Carus & Piotrowski, 2009).
Most agricultural products are renewable and as a result, materials made of plastic from renewable products such as Soyabean oil (SO) are on the increase. New bioplastics have been developed from Soyabean Oil. Researchers have also found that Soyabean oil maybe modified to suit different applications which include and not limited to sheet molding compounds made of plastics, coating materials, adhesive products among others (Schut, 2008).
Renewable resources are the identified sources for bioplastics. Such resources include corn, and potatoes. Bioplastics are also derived from starch. These bioplastics products are used in industries where degradability factor is a sufficient requirement. Such industrial application includes the production of composting bags and sacks, plates among other applications. The enhanced technological performances exhibited by bioplastics application when compared to traditional materials have resulted in the growth of new sectors dealing with biodegradable materials. Bioplastics are currently being used in the various applications where the aspect of biodegradability is of great concern (Stevens, 2006).
When bioplastics are compared to traditional materials, they offer a range of differences in terms of recycling processes, economy and impact on the environment. The recycling process for bioplastics is not complicated, economical and takes place in real time. The fact that they are biodegradable explains why they have less impact on environment and have thus been used for widely in various sectors. Composting technologies have been employed for various disposal applications; this technology is quite economical when employed in biodegradable disposal of bioplastics (Oku, 2005).