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Journal ArticleDOI

Recycling of bioplastics, their blends and biocomposites: A review

01 Oct 2013-European Polymer Journal (Pergamon)-Vol. 49, Iss: 10, pp 2839-2858
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present scientific findings concerning the recycling of bioplastics, their blends and thermoplastic biocomposites, with special focus on mechanical recycling of bio-based materials.
About: This article is published in European Polymer Journal.The article was published on 2013-10-01. It has received 324 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Plastic recycling & Bioplastic.
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors compile a dataset covering ten conventional and five bio-based plastics and their life-cycle GHG emissions under various mitigation strategies and demonstrate the need for integrating energy, materials, recycling, and demand management strategies to curb growing life cycle emissions from plastics.
Abstract: Over the past four decades, global plastics production has quadrupled1. If this trend were to continue, the GHG emissions from plastics would reach 15% of the global carbon budget by 20502. Strategies to mitigate the life-cycle GHG emissions of plastics, however, have not been evaluated on a global scale. Here, we compile a dataset covering ten conventional and five bio-based plastics and their life-cycle GHG emissions under various mitigation strategies. Our results show that the global life-cycle GHG emissions of conventional plastics were 1.7 Gt of CO2-equivalent (CO2e) in 2015, which would grow to 6.5 GtCO2e by 2050 under the current trajectory. However, aggressive application of renewable energy, recycling and demand-management strategies, in concert, has the potential to keep 2050 emissions comparable to 2015 levels. In addition, replacing fossil fuel feedstock with biomass can further reduce emissions and achieve an absolute reduction from the current level. Our study demonstrates the need for integrating energy, materials, recycling and demand-management strategies to curb growing life-cycle GHG emissions from plastics. The life-cycle GHG emissions from plastics are expected to increase. Here, it is shown that an aggressive strategy of decarbonizing energy infrastructure, improving recycling, adopting bio-based plastics and reducing demand is required to keep emissions below 2015 levels.

530 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: There is a need to assess the performance of polymer innovations in terms of their biodegradability especially under realistic waste management and environmental conditions, to avoid the unwanted release of plastic degradation products in receiving environments.
Abstract: Future plastic materials will be very different from those that are used today The increasing importance of sustainability promotes the development of bio-based and biodegradable polymers, sometimes misleadingly referred to as ‘bioplastics’ Because both terms imply “green” sources and “clean” removal, this paper aims at critically discussing the sometimes-conflicting terminology as well as renewable sources with a special focus on the degradation of these polymers in natural environments With regard to the former we review innovations in feedstock development (eg microalgae and food wastes) In terms of the latter, we highlight the effects that polymer structure, additives, and environmental variables have on plastic biodegradability We argue that the ‘biodegradable’ end-product does not necessarily degrade once emitted to the environment because chemical additives used to make them fit for purpose will increase the longevity In the future, this trend may continue as the plastics industry also is expected to be a major user of nanocomposites Overall, there is a need to assess the performance of polymer innovations in terms of their biodegradability especially under realistic waste management and environmental conditions, to avoid the unwanted release of plastic degradation products in receiving environments

449 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This review is focused on microbial biocatalysts involved in the degradation of the synthetic plastics polyethylene, polystyrene, polyurethane andpolyethylene terephthalate (PET).
Abstract: Petroleum-based plastics have replaced many natural materials in their former applications. With their excellent properties, they have found widespread uses in almost every area of human life. However, the high recalcitrance of many synthetic plastics results in their long persistence in the environment, and the growing amount of plastic waste ending up in landfills and in the oceans has become a global concern. In recent years, a number of microbial enzymes capable of modifying or degrading recalcitrant synthetic polymers have been identified. They are emerging as candidates for the development of biocatalytic plastic recycling processes, by which valuable raw materials can be recovered in an environmentally sustainable way. This review is focused on microbial biocatalysts involved in the degradation of the synthetic plastics polyethylene, polystyrene, polyurethane and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Recent progress in the application of polyester hydrolases for the recovery of PET building blocks and challenges for the application of these enzymes in alternative plastic waste recycling processes will be discussed.

443 citations


Cites background from "Recycling of bioplastics, their ble..."

  • ...renewable resources are readily biodegradable (Tokiwa et al., 2009; Soroudi and Jakubowicz, 2013; Yates and Barlow, 2013; Andrady, 2015d; Prieto, 2016)....

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  • ...In addition, not all of the so-called bioplastics derived from renewable resources are readily biodegradable (Tokiwa et al., 2009; Soroudi and Jakubowicz, 2013; Yates and Barlow, 2013; Andrady, 2015d; Prieto, 2016)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the preparation and properties of polylactic acid (PLA) polymer blends have been summarized and compared to those of traditional petrochemical-based polymers, such as polypropylene, polyamide, and polyamide.

350 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors reviewed the recent progress on recycling polymeric waste form some traditional polymers and their systems (blends and composites) such as polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), and polystyrene (PS), and introduced the mechanical and chemical recycling concepts.

343 citations


Cites background from "Recycling of bioplastics, their ble..."

  • ...Although PLA is a biodegradable material, which would significantly reduce environmental pollution associated with its waste, the knowledge about the material recycling and changes in the properties of PLA upon its multiple processing is a very important subject [6]....

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References
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a survey about physical and chemical treatment methods which improve the fiber matrix adhesion, their results and effects on the physical properties of composites is presented, and the influence of such treatments by taking into account fibre content on the creep, quasi-static, cyclic dynamic and impact behaviour of natural fibre reinforced plastics are discussed in detail.

4,160 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A comprehensive review of literature on bio-fiber reinforced composites is presented in this paper, where the overall characteristics of reinforcing fibers used in biocomposites, including source, type, structure, composition, as well as mechanical properties, are reviewed.

3,074 citations


"Recycling of bioplastics, their ble..." refers background in this paper

  • ...Developing biocomposites with a thermoplastic rather than thermoset matrix has been of great interest, mainly because of their recyclability [91]....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The structural aspects and properties of several biofibers and biodegradable polymers, recent developments of different biofiber and biocomposites are discussed in this paper.
Abstract: Recently the critical discussion about the preservation of natural resources and recycling has led to the renewed interest concerning biomaterials with the focus on renewable raw materials. Because of increasing environmental consciousness and demands of legislative authorities, use and removal of traditional composite structures, usually made of glass, carbon or aramid fibers being reinforced with epoxy, unsaturated polyester, or phenolics, are considered critically. Recent advances in natural fiber development, genetic engineering and composite science offer significant opportunities for improved materials from renewable resources with enhanced support for global sustainability. The important feature of composite materials is that they can be designed and tailored to meet different requirements. Since natural fibers are cheap and biodegradable, the biodegradable composites from biofibers and biodegradable polymers will render a contribution in the 21st century due to serious environmental problem. Biodegradable polymers have offered scientists a possible solution to waste-disposal problems associated with traditional petroleum-derived plastics. For scientists the real challenge lies in finding applications which would consume sufficiently large quantities of these materials to lead price reduction, allowing biodegradable polymers to compete economically in the market. Today's much better performance of traditional plastics are the outcome of continued RD however the existing biodegradable polymers came to public only few years back. Prices of biodegradable polymers can be reduced on mass scale production; and such mass scale production will be feasible through constant R&D efforts of scientists to improve the performance of biodegradable plastics. Manufacture of biodegradable composites from such biodegradable plastics will enhance the demand of such materials. The structural aspects and properties of several biofibers and biodegradable polymers, recent developments of different biodegradable polymers and biocomposites are discussed in this review article. Collaborative R&D efforts among material scientists and engineers as well as intensive co-operation and co-ordination among industries, research institutions and government are essential to find various commercial applications of biocomposites even beyond to our imagination.

2,612 citations


"Recycling of bioplastics, their ble..." refers background in this paper

  • ...PLA is a thermoplastic aliphatic polyester obtained from the ring-opening polymerisation of lactide, which may be derived from the fermentation of sugar feedstock at competitive prices [12]....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This critical review provides a survey illustrated by recent references of different strategies to achieve a sustainable conversion of biomass to bioproducts to examine critically the green character of conversion processes.
Abstract: This critical review provides a survey illustrated by recent references of different strategies to achieve a sustainable conversion of biomass to bioproducts. Because of the huge number of chemical products that can be potentially manufactured, a selection of starting materials and targeted chemicals has been done. Also, thermochemical conversion processes such as biomass pyrolysis or gasification as well as the synthesis of biofuels were not considered. The synthesis of chemicals by conversion of platform molecules obtained by depolymerisation and fermentation of biopolymers is presently the most widely envisioned approach. Successful catalytic conversion of these building blocks into intermediates, specialties and fine chemicals will be examined. However, the platform molecule value chain is in competition with well-optimised, cost-effective synthesis routes from fossil resources to produce chemicals that have already a market. The literature covering alternative value chains whereby biopolymers are converted in one or few steps to functional materials will be analysed. This approach which does not require the use of isolated, pure chemicals is well adapted to produce high tonnage products, such as paper additives, paints, resins, foams, surfactants, lubricants, and plasticisers. Another objective of the review was to examine critically the green character of conversion processes because using renewables as raw materials does not exempt from abiding by green chemistry principles (368 references).

2,077 citations


"Recycling of bioplastics, their ble..." refers background in this paper

  • ...Conversion of biopolymers (not bioplastics) such as polysaccharides (cellulose, hemicellulose, starch, inulin and chitin) or other biopolymers (lignin, proteins) to different small molecules or chemicals has been discussed [54]....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A review of polymer blends and composites from renewable resources can be found in this article, where the progress of blends from three kinds of polymers from renewable sources (i.e., natural polymers such as starch, protein and cellulose), synthetic polymers, such as polylactic acid and polyhydroxybutyrate, are described with an emphasis on potential applications.

1,931 citations