Biodegradable Plastics Currently Available

Apparently, there already are two different types of biodegradable plastic on the market that we need to start introducing into manufacturing. These are known as oxo-biodegradable, (oxygen) and hydro-biodegradable (hydrolysis), both types emit

C02 while degrading is in progress. These plastics wind up in the compost, with only oxo-biodegradable being the easiest to recycle. The plastic has a service lifespan, and then the plastic begins to biodegrade. Bacteria and fungi biodegrade the plastic. Oxo-biodegradable film is approved in the United Kingdom for use in grocery stores.

In the UK, the biodegradable plastic products cost less than normal plastic. Hydro-biodegradable plastics come from crops. “Plastics made from crops are 400% times more expensive,” and not strong enough to use in high-speed machinery. Using crops with hydro-biodegradable plastics will drive the cost of food up. (Biodegradable Plastic Association), For now, though, plastics in other parts of the world come from petroleum. Plastic pollution is a very serious problem. 200,000 barrels of oil are used in the United States to make our plastic. (Explain That Stuff) Some plastics go cloudy or yellow when exposed to sunlight.

Some biodegradable plastics are made from natural materials such as cornstarch, while biodegradable plastics are made from petrochemicals, which are designed to break down faster than normal plastic. Eco-recycled plastics are plastics that are made from recycled chemicals other than raw petrochemicals. Making plastics from chemicals other than petroleum would mean they would break down in the soil faster. Some products go by the brand name EverCorn™, which uses cornstarch while bioplastics look the same as normal, petroleum-based plastics. Bioplastics can “break down in a matter of weeks,”

(Explain That Stuff).

Durable plastic made of a material called PlantBottle is an alternative bioplastic alternative to traditional PET bottles made by Coca-Cola, made by up to 30% ethanol. Some biodegradable plastics will, however, only meltdown in a high-temperature industrial composting facility. We need to build more biodegradable plastics along with a new recycling infrastructure that can take these plastics in order to break them down properly. We may have to ban specific types of biodegradable plastics (Huffington Post). The solution lies in marketing biodegradable plastic in a way that consumers can grow attached to this type of plastic scenario. If more consumers demand that biodegradable plastic is used more often, this may result in a social change on our planet since we live in a polluted world.

The thing is, many chronic health problems come from the use of fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are used to make plastic as well, and incineration in a landfill just makes fossil fuel air pollution much worse. What we have to start doing is cleaning up our planet, plain and simple. Beach cleanups are all plastic-oriented. Clean-up crews find plastic bags, plastic water bottles, plastic this, plastic that. Plastic has a bad effect on marine life since they swallow microscopic particles of plastic, which makes them ill. In turn, when we eat fish, we are risking contamination with mercury. Mercury poisoning is really hard on your body since that is why enlightened people don’t eat very much fish.

We have many environmental problems on this planet we have to spend the next century or so resolving. We need to fix things. What part of, having to fix things do we not understand as a species? We don’t get it. Many of us have to work. The working lifestyle doesn’t leave much room or time for community service to be taken seriously. We need to solve our environmental problems by creating a sea-faring organization with shipboard jobs that are devoted to cleaning up the plastic in the ocean. This is one idea, along with a fleet of submarines that take care of environmental problems.

Works Cited

http://www.biodeg.org/typesofdegradableplastic.html

http://www.biodeg.org/Types%20of%20Degradable%20Plastic%20(2).pdf

https://www.explainthatstuff.com/bioplastics.html

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-szaky/bioplastics-and-the-truth_b_8954844.html