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Tackling End-of-Life Issues for Bio Plastics
Bio-based plastics have the potential to be a real game-changer in the world of sustainability. Alternatives to petroleum-based plastics have been springing up all over the world in the last several years. One of the most widespread and promising materials emerging is polylactide, or PLA, which is made from plant-based feedstocks such as corn, rice, sweet potato and sugar beet. PLA can be composted or completely reused, and the production process is cleaner than that of traditional plastic. PLA has broad implications for sustainability, as it has the potential to eliminate the need to utilize petroleum – a finite, non-renewable resource – for plastics, and avoids the post-consumer accumulation problems related to conventional plastics. PLA is being accepted in a number of industries, including packaging, automotive, medicine and textiles, though the production volume in the US is still low compared to that of its petro-based counterparts.
Although PLA is manufactured with two end-of-life options in mind, the material rarely meets its intended ends. There are infrastructural limitations to both composting and recycling which create an unfortunate end-of-life dilemma for PLA – even though products may be disposed of in a recycling or composting bin, they still have a chance of being landfilled. This presents a problem for PLA producers – without supportive composting and recycling infrastructures, a biodegradable and recyclable product is a difficult sell.
Although PLA readily biodegrades in a controlled setting such as a commercial composting facility, few of these facilities currently accept biodegradable plastics. Those that do often have rigid specifications for the material they will accept. For example, Cedar Grove Composting, the only facility of its kind in Seattle, requires that biodegradable materials be tested and become certified before they will be accepted as compost. Oftentimes, when PLA does end up in composting streams, it is extracted, due to its similar appearance to traditional plastic.
Post Source: http://www.triplepundit.com/2011/05/bio-based-plastics-beginning-tackle-life-issues/
