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Biodegradable Plastics: Standards, Policies, And Reviews ChemSusChem doi.org/10.1002/cssc.202002044 1 2 3 Biodegradable Plastics: Standards, Policies, and Impacts 4 [a] [a] 5 Layla Filiciotto and Gadi Rothenberg* 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 ChemSusChem 2021, 14, 56–72 56 © 2020 The Authors. ChemSusChem published by Wiley-VCH GmbH Wiley VCH Donnerstag, 07.01.2021 2101 / 183032 [S. 56/72] 1 Reviews ChemSusChem doi.org/10.1002/cssc.202002044 1 Plastics are ubiquitous in our society. They are in our phones, and require further efforts in research and commercialization. 2 clothes, bottles, and cars. Yet having improved our lives Here, a critical overview of the state of the art of biodegradable 3 considerably, they now threaten our environment and our plastics is given. Using a material flow analysis, the challenges 4 health. The associated carbon emissions and persistency of of the plastic market are highlighted, and with it the large 5 plastics challenge the fragile balance of many ecosystems. One market potential of biodegradable plastics. The environmental 6 solution is using biodegradable plastics. Ideally, such plastics and socio-economic impact of plastics, government policies, 7 are easily assimilated by microorganisms and disappear from standards and certifications, physico-chemical properties, and 8 our environment. This can help reduce the problems of climate analytical techniques are covered. The Review concludes with a 9 change, microplastics, and littering. However, biodegradable personal outlook on the future of bioplastics, based on our own 10 plastics are still only a tiny portion of the global plastics market experience with their development and commercialization. 11 12 1. Introduction come by. This Review will try and put things in the right 13 perspective. We will examine various aspects of biodegradable 14 Discrete historical and economic events trigger innovations.[1] In plastics, ranging from socio-economic and environmental 15 the 19th century, the demand for ivory skyrocketed in Europe impacts to hands-on approaches on assessing biodegradability 16 and America, driving up both price and exclusivity.[2] To including certifications and policies. Hopefully, these facts, 17 substitute this, a semi-synthetic plastic, Parkesine, was invented definitions, and figures will help people make better-informed 18 in 1862.[3] In the following decades, synthetic plastics were decisions about plastics in the future. 19 researched intensively, culminating with the invention of Nylon 20 in 1938. Together with other synthetic fibers, Nylon influenced 21 the outcome of World War II,[4] marking the dawn of the new 1.1. (Bio)degradability of Plastics in the Environment 22 plastic age. In 1950, each person used on average 1.7 kg of 23 plastics.[5] By 2007, annual consumption per capita rose to Allegedly, the first plastic sample ever made has still not 24 100 kg. Today the figure is >140 kg.[6] degraded.[9,10] Yet an end-of-life can be identified for products 25 Plastics have several advantages over metal and paper. even without degradation. Plastics can be recycled, landfilled, 26 Their low energy requirement in production, low maintenance, or end up in the environment with or without modification.[11] 27 corrosion resistance, lightness, and durability have made them In 2013, 32% of the 78 million tonnes of plastics produced 28 ubiquitous. Polymer foam insulators, for example, have im- ended up in the environment.[12] The latest estimates[13] put the 29 proved the energy efficiency of buildings by a factor of 200.[7] In number of plastic micro-pieces in the oceans at 5×1012. Such 30 the food sector, plastic packaging increased the shelf life of particles are categorized as either primary (1°) or secondary (2°). 31 products without using preservatives.[8] Yet it looks like Primary microplastics denote as-synthesized products (e.g., 32 mankind‘s long-term romance with plastics is starting to plastic microbeads added to cosmetic products). Secondary 33 decline. Today, traditional plastics face public scrutiny because ones are microplastics formed by the degradation of the plastic 34 of their effects on human health and on the environment. To product. Major sources of microplastics are the wear and tear of 35 keep this multi-billion-dollar market rolling, the industry is automotive wheels (60–140 ktpa, 2°), followed by industrial loss 36 looking to develop plastics with new properties or raw of plastic pellets during transport (5–80 ktpa, 1°) and the wash 37 materials. The magic terms in this context are “bio-based” and of synthetic clothing (10–25 ktpa, 2°). Intentionally-added 38 “biodegradable”. Such new plastics are set to substitute the microplastics range between 50–500 tpa (1°).[14] Still, the 39 current persistent ones in the packaging, single-use, agricul- compounded weight of these microplastics is infinitesimal 40 tural, and fishing sectors. compared to the annual global production (see below). The 41 Yet moving from traditional plastics to eco-friendly ones is a high amount of mismanaged plastic waste, however, will 42 tricky challenge. The very definitions of “bio-based” and eventually form microplastics that will build up in the 43 “biodegradable” are unclear. Adjectives such as “green”, “circu- environment.[15] The dynamic character of our environment also 44 lar”, or indeed “eco-friendly” are even vaguer. Producers, causes each ecosystem to be contaminated by plastics and 45 consumers, and policy-makers are faced with a plethora of become part of human/animal food chains.[16,17] Thus, reducing 46 choices and approaches, where relevant information is hard to any type of microplastics will bring large benefits. 47 All plastics undergo some degradation, either physicochem- 48 ical and/or biological. Physicochemical processes include 49 [a] Dr. L. Filiciotto, Prof. Dr. G. Rothenberg Van’t Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences weathering (degradation due to sunlight, wind, or waves) and 50 University of Amsterdam hydrolysis/oxidation. These processes affect all plastics and are 51 Science Park 904, 1098XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands. the primary cause of microplastics.[18] Plastics that are designed 52 E-mail: [email protected] Homepage: http://hims.uva.nl/hcsc to degrade by oxidation or hydrolysis processes are called oxo- 53 © 2020 The Authors. ChemSusChem published by Wiley-VCH GmbH. This is degradable and hydro-degradable plastics, respectively.[19] They 54 an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution are usually non-biodegradable as-is and require modification. 55 Non-Commercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction Oxo-degradable plastics are commonly fossil-carbon-derived 56 in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes. plastics (e.g., polyolefins) with a mixture of additives. These 57 ChemSusChem 2021, 14, 56–72 www.chemsuschem.org 57 © 2020 The Authors. ChemSusChem published by Wiley-VCH GmbH Wiley VCH Donnerstag, 07.01.2021 2101 / 183032 [S. 57/72] 1 Reviews ChemSusChem doi.org/10.1002/cssc.202002044 additives are both prooxidants and antioxidants, the combina- hand, including chemical structure and crystallinity (see below). 1 tion of which induces time-controlled oxidation. Prooxidants Similarly, some petro-based plastics are also biodegradable. Bio- 2 are often metal stearates (e.g., iron stearate) and are balanced based plastics can be considered green as they are made from 3 by phenolic or phosphite antioxidants.[20,21] Photodegradable renewable resources.[29] At the waste management step, a 4 plastics are a sub-category of oxo-degradable plastics, where plastic is termed circular if its components are reused or 5 the oxidation process is induced by UV light (�4% of natural recycled. Inasmuch as that plants use CO for growth and CO is 6 2 2 sunlight).[22] Hydro-degradable plastics are often a blend of emitted in aerobic degradation, bio-based and biodegradable 7 petro-based plastic with a natural polymer, such as starch.[23] plastics are circular. 8 Polyacrylamide (PA) is also considered as a hydro-degradable Bio-based but not biodegradable plastics often structurally 9 plastic given its water-holding capacity and eventual degrada- mimic petro-based plastics. These plastics are considered drop- 10 tion into biomass.[24–27] These plastics rely on the hydrophilic in solutions as they possess the same properties as their petro- 11 nature of the polymer for their decomposition into smaller based counterparts. Some examples include bio-polyethylene 12 oligomers. However, both oxo- and hydro-degradable plastics terephthalate (bio-PET), bio-polyethylene (bio-PE), or bio-poly- 13 are considered to cause microplastics in their end-life. amides (bio-PA or nylon). However, these plastics often have 14 Conversely, the degradation of biodegradable plastics is low feedstock efficiency or still include petro-based 15 caused by microorganisms (bacteria; fungal enzymes).[28] Biode- monomers.[30] For instance, current bio-PET production only 16 gradability may vary depending on humidity, temperature, and includes 32% of bio-derived monoethylene glycol (MEG) while 17 other conditions. Ideally, plastics can degrade by aerobic and the remaining 68% is fossil-carbon-derived terephthalic acid. 18 anaerobic organisms all the way to CO , methane, water, and These low efficiencies are given by the inherently different 19 2 edible biomass/compost. Most commercial biodegradable plas- chemical structures of fossil-carbon- and plant-derived feed- 20 tics are converted into compost rather than gaseous products. stocks. In fact, the highly oxygenated nature of biomass will 21 For a plastic to be compostable, the organic matter formed hinder the synthesis of linear alkyl plastics (e.g., bio-PE). The 22 should be harmless to animal or plants.
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