Page 50 - Plastics News Issue - January 2025
P. 50
TECHNOLOGY NEWS
embodied, used as feedstocks for newer plastics the effectiveness of the process of recycling re-
or even as a source of fuel. Another technique mains the solution of the problem of the increase
involves some sort of enzymatic degradation in the amount of recycled products through the
which they cleave the plastic into its monomers. use of materials that can be degraded by the
These biotechnological approaches have prov- environment. Apparently, biodegradable plastics
en viable especially for the degradation of poly- are those that t decompose in the environment
ethylene terephthalate (PET) plastics, which are faster than the petroleum based ordinary plas-
characteristic of bottles. tics. Bioplastics can be of two types: one type of
bioplastic is made from renewable material such
2. Plastic-to-Fuel Technologies
as corn starch or sugarcane that makes up the
Another example of solution which is used all raw material, one type of bioplastic is designed
around the world is known as the plastic to fuel to degrade when exposed to light, heat or mois-
technology: essentially, it means that people ture.
take plastic waste and turn it into fuel. It turns Biodegradable plastic for example Polylactic
out that pyrolysis, and other methods are used Acid (PLA) is produced from fermented plants
to crack plastics into liquid or gaseous fuels that sugars. PLA is biodegradable and could break
can be used in energy generation. This technol- down in home composting hence a better op-
ogy minimizes the amount of plastic waste while tion than other single use plastics such as pack-
at the same time generates fuel energy that aging and cutleries. Many other biodegradable
competes with fossil energy. Plastic-to-fuel tech- plastics such as polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA)
nologies are still in their relatively early stages of are synthesized by microorganisms and can be
commercialization but these process show po- decomposed by bacteria in the soil or in water
tential for efficient waste reduction and energy solutions.
production.
Nonetheless, biodegradable plastics are not
3. Biological Recycling
free from difficulties. Although they biodegrade
Biological recycling is being seen as a new inno- faster than normal plastics, they need to be in
vation in which enzymes or microorganisms are an environment conducive so as to fully decom-
used to break down plastic material. pose. In some of these environments such as a
landfill, they may not degrade as planned. How-
Some bacterial and fungal species can reduce ever, biodegradable plastics production at for
plastic material to easy digestible compounds instance Industrial scale may come with other
since they are naturally endowed with that ap- negative effects such as changes in the land use
titude. Scientists are now striving to optimize for raising crops such as corn or sugarcane.
these processes for practical use involving large
number of data sets. As it stands, microbial re- Plastic Alternatives and Innovations in Mate-
cycling may be a new green approach towards rial Design
dealing with plastics since the microbes devel- Along with the development of advanced forms
oped will only break down plastics like polyeth- of recycling and biodegradable plastics, a large
ylene and polystyrene.
share of research aims at the utilization of sub-
Biodegradable Plastics: A Potential Solution stitute for plastics in different applications. Such
options are paper, glass, and metals; new in-
However, the most important task of maximizing ventions such as plant-based plastic, and food
50 PLASTICS NEWS January 2025
