June 2018
FEATURES
Dear EarthTalk: What are suitable
materials for making biodegradable
plastic besides corn and sugarcane?
Is pineapple or peanut suitable?
– Yu Hong Yap, Malaysia
Biodegradable plastic is defined
as any form of plastic that can break
down into its constituent components
in the environment within days,
weeks or months without leaving
behind potentially toxic residue.
The term bioplastic refers to any
form of plastic derived from organic
or plant-based materials rather than
petroleum, regardless of whether it
can break down (biodegrade) easily
in the environment.
Thus, the two terms are not neces-
sarily the same, although many use
the terms interchangeably.
The most common iteration of
bioplastic, so-called PLA (polylactic
acid) plastic, is typically derived
from corn or sugarcane—and is bio-
degradable.
Since we know how to grow these
food crops so well, using the mini-
mal amount of land for the highest
yield, we can create bioplastic pretty
efficiently.
But given still exploding global
human population numbers and
more hungry mouths to feed, many
wonder if it makes sense to take away
land that could be used to grow food
to make more plastic, even if it is
biodegradable.
To avoid wasting food crops to
make plastic, researchers have pio-
neered new formulations of biode-
gradable plastic derived from feed-
stock not suitable for food or feed,
such as wood, wheat straw, bagasse,
corn cobs, palm fruit bunches, switch
grass and waste vegetable oil.
In Europe, the Mars candy compa-
ny is using potato waste in its biode-
gradable wrappers for Snickers bars.
Likewise, there’s no reason why
pineapple or peanut couldn’t work
as a feedstock—though market
conditions usually dictate that such
products fetch a higher price as food,
especially since they don’t have to
be processed as they would if they
become bioplastic.
Yet another even more futuristic
category of bioplastic feedstock uses
algae or even carbon dioxide or meth-
ane waste to produce biodegradable
plastic.
These so-called “third generation”
or “nextgen” feedstocks do double
duty by both creating biodegrad-
able plastic and removing pollutants
that would otherwise contribute to
climate change or eutrophication (an
excessive buildup of nutrients in wa-
terways that causes a dense growth
of plant life and death of animal life
from lack of oxygen).
While biodegradable plastic is
hardly commonplace yet on store
shelves, there are actions consumers
can take to move things along.
Encourage manufacturers to switch
to biodegradable plastics and stop
buying products made with con-
ventional plastic. Sign the Earth Day
Network’s petition to end plastic
pollution.
While no one can reasonably ar-
gue against replacing conventional
plastics with biodegradable ones, re-
searchers from the United Kingdom’s
University of Portsmouth and the
U.S. Department of Energy’s National
Renewable Energy Laboratory acci-
dentally developed an enzyme that
breaks down conventional plastic
into its constituent parts.
This discovery could revolutionize
recycling and be a Godsend for ma-
rine and terrestrial ecosystems beset
by plastic waste.
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(Photo by Doug Beckers, FlickrCC)
“We can all play a significant part
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Contacts: Earth Day Network,
“Help End Plastic Pollution” Petition;
Mars, www.mars.com; University of
Portsmouth, Biological Sciences staff,
John McGeehan.
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