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Bioplastics and Environmental

Sustainability: Some Thoughts
By: Trishel Gokool, BSc (UWI), MSc (Manchester), AMIMechE

1.0 Introduction

Working in the plastics packaging industry has introduced

me to the reality of how rapidly we consume plastic prod-
ucts. Of course, I’m aware that plastics are essential materi-
als in all areas of society, but their extensive use, slow deg-
radation and petroleum-based origins contribute to pollu-
tion and depletion of non-renewable resources. A 2010
waste characterization study commissioned by the Ministry
of Local Government found that plastics comprised of an
average of 19.525% of waste in Trinidad and Tobago’s four
primary landfills (Government of the Republic of Trinidad
and Tobago, 2015). This figure does not consider the plastic
waste that is currently littered throughout the country, find-
ing residence at roadsides, and in drains, rivers, and our
coastline. Moreover, plastic waste takes, on average, 450
years to decompose in the environment (National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration Marine Debris Program,
2018).

In recent years, sustainability has become an important con-

cern for governments, businesses and everyday citizens, as Figure 1.0: The three interconnected pillars of sustainabil-
the negative impact of human activities needs to be ad- ity
dressed. In 2015, the United Nations (UN) launched its Sus-
According to Goodland (1995), the concept of environmen-
tainable Development Goals (SDG) mandate which focuses
tal sustainability refers to sustaining global life-support sys-
on 17 key areas of global sustainability. But what does the
tems indeterminately. Pollution is the biggest barrier to
term sustainability mean? In the literature, sustainability is
achieving environmental sustainability, as the improper dis-
commonly defined as “development that meets the needs of
posal of waste materials harms ecosystems around the
the present without compromising the ability of future gen-
world. With respect to plastic pollution, it is estimated that
erations to meet their own needs” (Shah, 2008).
about 79,000 tonnes of plastic are dumped in the Pacific
It encompasses three main pillars, namely environmental, Ocean alone, continuously increasing the size of the now
social and economic development as illustrated in Figure 1. infamous ‘great Pacific garbage patch’, that is currently three
This short article considers the concept of environmental times the size of France (Arora et al., 2018) as shown in
sustainability in terms of environmental pollution and how Figure 2. The innovation of products and processes are
material innovation can potentially make plastics less harm- needed to combat pollution and move closer towards creat-
ful to the environment and thus more sustainable. ing a sustainable environment.
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Figure 2.0: Thermographic satellite image of the Great Figure 3.0: Degradation of a compostable bioplastic bottle
Pacific Garbage Patch (Canelo, 2018) over the span of 80 days (Echo Instruments, 2016)

Conventional plastics are petroleum-based and are typically biological processes in industrial and home composts. Figure
not biodegradable, both of which are undesirable character- 3 shows the degradation of a compostable bottle over the
istics for environmentally sustainable materials. To this end, span of just 80 days. As observed, after 80 days it has de-
new materials are being produced to reduce the environ- graded enough for the fragments to be invisible to the naked
mental impact of plastic products, namely, bio-based plastics eye. However, it must be verified that complete biodegrada-
and biodegradable plastics, both of which are generally tion has in fact occurred and not simply fragmentation, as
termed ‘bioplastics’. Bio-based plastics, like the name sug- these fragments can remain in the environment for a long
gests, are derived from renewable resources such as corn, of period of time and be just as damaging to the environ-
soybean, bioethanol and lignin. Ideally, their production does ment.
not rely on our ever-depleting petroleum resources, so,
producing these bio-based plastics will not only reduce cur- A major drawback of several of the new bioplastics is that
rent petroleum usage, but we will still be able to produce they cannot be used in current processing equipment. To
them when these reserves are exhausted. Biodegradable combat this issue, and maintain material performance, many
plastics, on the other hand, are plastics that undergo physi- companies are offering additives that can be added in small
cal and chemical deterioration and completely degrade into quantities to current feedstock, making the resulting plastic
carbon dioxide or methane, and water by microorganisms. product degradable. These companies use terms such as
This action will considerably reduce the amount of time the “oxy-degradable”, “oxy-biodegradable” and “degradable” to
plastic remains in the environment. Bio-based plastics can be describe the products manufactured from the additive and
biodegradable or nondegradable, and can also be molecular- conventional plastic combination.
ly similar to existing plastics, such as bio-based PET
(polyethylene terephthalate), or completely new materials
such as PLA (polylactic acid).

However, although many bio-based polymers are biode-

gradable, not all biodegradable plastics are bio-based (Babu
et al., 2013). Some biodegradable plastics can also be de-
scribed as compostable and undergo degradation through
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There has been much controversy surrounding these claims,
as a few emerging studies have shown that the additives do
not reduce the degradation rate of plastics (Selke et al.,
2015; Lambert and Wagner, 2017), whilst the additive man- Trishel Gokool
ufacturers are providing data that show otherwise. Standard is a part-time
graduate student
testing bodies like ISO and ASTM have been trying to devel- at The University
op standard testing methods for degradability of plastics, but of the West In-
with the absence of such standards, plastics manufacturers dies, pursuing her
and consumers must decide for themselves if the claims are PhD Manufactur-
justified and the risk is acceptable. ing Engineering.
She is also em-
At present, the testing done on these additives often refer ployed at ANSA
to ASTM D5338 and D5511, but although these are stand- Polymer as a
Management
ard test methods, they are not standard specifications
Trainee under the
(PLASTICS, 2018). Third party or in-house testing is a good Champions De-
idea before introducing such additives to conventional res- velopment Pro-
ins, as well as toxicity testing for plastics used in food pack- gramme. In 2015,
aging and mechanical testing for high strength applications. she graduated
with a BSc Mechanical Engineering (First Class
In advertising these blends as biodegradable, companies Honours) from The University of the West Indies.
must also ensure that they do not inadvertently promote In 2018 graduated with an MSc Advanced Manufac-
littering, as consumers may get the impression that these turing Technology and Systems Management
(Distinction) from the University of Manchester,
products will harmlessly disappear in the environment.
UK. Her research interests include but are not
Proper end of useful life recovery and disposal is required to limited to computer-aided design and manufactur-
successfully dispose of these plastics, and care should be ing (CAD/CAM), additive manufacturing, process
taken to avoid the contamination of the waste stream by the optimization and engineering education.
mixing of biodegradable plastics with nondegradable ones.

In order to satisfy the UN’s SDG, which includes ensuring

sustainable consumption and production patterns and build-
ing resilient infrastructure, promoting sustainable industriali-
zation and fostering innovation; Trinidad and Tobago must
step up and reduce environmental pollution.

Local plastic manufacturers should be looking towards sus-

tainable materials and processes to reduce future plastic
waste and engage in recycling drives to reduce the plastic
waste currently littered throughout the country. Moreover,
with the reduced supply of petroleum, bio-based plastics are
becoming increasingly attractive.

However, due to the absence of established standards, com-

panies and consumers alike have to decide on whether the
bioplastics they produce and/or use are in fact beneficial to
the environment, and both need to be proactive in the end
of life disposal and recovery of these plastic products.