Plastic Biodegradable For Reduce Consumption of Crude Oil

 The word "plastic" or "plastics" comes from the Greek word "plastikos" meaning "capable of being shaped or molded".  Plastics are made from raw materials like natural gas, oil or plants, which are refined into ethane and propane. Then ethane and propane will be treated with high heat, in a process known as cracking. This is how they’re converted into monomers such as ethylene and propylene. The monomers ethylene and propylene are combined with a catalyst to create a polymer. Then the polymers are shipped to factories to be melted and molded into melded water bottles, food packaging, auto parts, medical devices and the other plastic products.

Since the birth of the plastic industry in the 1950s global production has increases enormously, reaching some 381 million metric tonnes in 2015. Production of plastic has a bad impact for the environment because the chemical structure of most plastics renders them durable so they are resistant to many natural degradation processes. The total amount of plastic generated is estimated a cumulative production of 8.3 billion tons of plastic, of which 6.3 billion tons is waste, with only 9% getting recycled [1]. According to one report, plastic contributed greenhouse gases in the equivalent of 850 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere in 2019 and emissions could grow to 1.34 billion tons by 2030 [2]. The effect of plastics on global warming is mixed. Plastics are generally made from petroleum thus the production of plastics creates further emissions. so how we could fix this huge problem of the plastic?

We can turn conventional plastic into biodegradable plastic. Biodegradable plastics are plastics that can be decomposed by the action of living organisms, usually microbes, into water, carbon dioxide, and biomass[3]. Biodegradable plastics are commonly produced with renewable raw materials, micro-organisms, petrochemicals, or combinations of all three. The biodegradable plastics that are currently popular are jute bags, paper bags and biodegradable or bio-plastics, in conjunction with the non-renewable alternatives, such as, heavier plastic bags, woven plastic bags and renewable calico, cloth bags.

The production of biodegradable plastics has been considered as an alternative to the toxic producing traditional plastic bags. This provides the same environment friendly positive image of natural fibers and bio-degradability that paper or jute bags possess. On the other hand, the increasing public awareness of climate change issues and environmental impacts on consumption has led to the biodegradable plastic manufacture to respond to the international pressure on environmental politics. Thus the need to stop using the non-biodegradable plastic bags has increased. The public pressures on oil reserves and the plastic war have gone a long way to inculcate the public and encourage the use of biodegradable plastics for sustainable development, hence decreasing the widespread use of traditional plastics whilst simultaneously it also increases the market potential of the new generation of biodegradable plastic products for a much broader global usage (BIOCOM, 2006).

Although biodegradable plastic bags are marketed as an environment friendly option, they may probably cause similar but further environmental problems, such as, soil pollution, contamination of recycling streams, social impacts of increased litter, and reduced environmental function (Though, 2007). Biodegradable plastics are being heralded as safer than the usage of non-biodegradable plastics, nonetheless, there are many types of degradable and biodegradable plastics, and to make the problem more challenging, not all of the biodegradable and compostable alternative plastics are environment friendly. As a matter of fact, the definition of biodegradable is varied and often overlooked by many consumers who consider biodegradable plastics are not harmful. Moreover, there are both intentional and unintentionally misleading claims of the concerned product performance that increases the negative consumer experiences and leading to claims of green washing. These misleading claims will have significant impacts on the understanding and use of biodegradable plastics.

Plastic From Another Trash

 The term biodegradable has become a popular word in product marketing, and it does not necessarily mean the ingredients are natural or non-harmful. The term biodegradable means capable of being decomposed by bacteria or other biological means (Collins, 2000). Biodegradable items can also include synthetic plastics or blends of starch-based synthetic plastics that can be broken down, degraded or putrefied by biological processes. It does not necessarily mean that all the products or by products of this degradation can be easily absorbed into the natural process of environmental cycles. Plastics degraded by biological agents can still leave undesirable synthetic materials in small forms, such as, particles of polymers in the environment where the degradation has occurred, just as traditional polyethylene plastic bags leave when they erode as litter in the environment. Degradable plastic products differ between different types of biodegradable plastics (Though, 2007). So, we need to remember that degradable plastics or traditional polyethylene products are still harmful for agricultural crops and other plants when they decompose into the soil whereas the biodegradable plastics are not.

Plastic products both conventional plastic or biodegradable plastic are designed to be used only once, such as thin grocery bags and the film packaging those seals everything from food to toys, is known as single-use plastic. To overcome the effect of plastics on global warming, environmentalists often encourage people to reduce their use of single-use plastics and to instead opt for more durable multi-use items, such as metal water bottles or cotton totes.

Source:

Abdul Jalil,et all.(2013). Using Plastic Bags and Its Damaging Impact on Environment and Agriculture: An Alternative Proposal.Vol.3, No 4

Ammala, Anne (2011). "An overview of degradable and biodegradable polyolefins". Progress in Polymer Science. 36 (8): 1015–1043. doi:10.1016/j.progpolymsci.2010.12.002. Retrieved September 21, 2018.

Geyer R, Jambeck JR, Law KL (July 2017). "Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever made". Science Advances. 3 (7): e1700782. 

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