Global Plastic Companies Have Plans for Biodegrada

Bombay, India, October 4-- The world's largest producers of synthetic polymers or conventional plastics are making feverish attempts to develop biodegradable plastics or bio-polymers. Among them are Cargill Dow, Cronopol, DuPont and Metabolix Inc. in the US, Novamont in Italy, BASF in Germany, Monsanto in UK, Mitsui Chemicals and Shimadzu in Japan. Cargill Dow and Novamont have emerged as the dominant force in the world market. According to PL Nayak, UGC Emeritus Professor, Biodegradable Polymer Research Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Ravenshaw College, Cuttack, Orissa, new market opportunities are emerging for the development of biodegradable and bio-based products as the next generation of sustainable, eco-friendly materials that meet ecological and economic requirements. The main properties of the biodegradable plastics are: * Low barriers of oxygen/water vapour transfer * Best suited for short shelf life products * Fully compostable in commercial composting facilities * Will not biodegrade in landfill or other environments under ambient conditions but degrade at controlled conditions, temperature or organisms. It is estimated that the demand for biodegradable plastics will increase to about 2.5 lakh tonne by 2005 from the present 1.4 lakh tonne. World market could grow 30% per year for next decade. By 2010, production capacity would reach one million tonne. Experts from the Indian Centre for Plastics in the Environment (ICPE), say that environmentally degradable plastics find innumerable opportunities. The prospective markets for biodegradable polymer includes wraps for various consumer goods like medicines, agricultural, forestry and fishery products, blending stocks, plasticisers, lubricants, pesticides, detergents and chemical agents for fibres and papers. Biodegradable plastics, however, are not to be seen as replacement of plastics but can be used only for some specific applications. Plastics have become an indispensable ingredient to modern life. Production has reached 1.8 billion tonne. It will be 2.58 billion tonne by the next 10 years. Plastics will also take a market share from steel, wood and glass. Per capita consumption will increase from 24.5 kg to 37 kg by 2010, led by the US, Western Europe and Japan. Indians would use 12.5 kg per person in 2010. It is 4.3 kg now. The non-degradable, inert plastics, 30% of which is used as packaging material and thrown out immediately after opening the packet, is a major environmental hazard. They pollute environment, damage water resources and render soil unproductive. Almost 40% of the municipal waste comprises plastics. They even defy the 5Rs approach of reduce, reuse, recycle, recover and repair. It is against this background that attempts are made on several fronts to develop polymeric materials that are completely biodegradable, called bio-plastics. According to Sushil K Verma, Director General, Central Institute of Plastics Engineering & Technology (CIPET) Chennai, researchers are working on developing biodegradable polymers that can be processed like conventional polymers in the standard processing equipment or machinery; that can retain their end-use property requirements, but could be readily degradable in a biologically rich environment and that can become an alternative material to solve the environmental implications related to plastics waste. He told a recent national seminar on emerging trends in biodegradable plastics, organised by Department of Polymer Technology, B S Abdur Rahman Crescent Engineering College, Vandalur, Chennai, that the biodegradation may occur due to natural or chemical means. Plastics based on natural plant polymers derived from wheat or corn starches have molecules that are readily attacked and broken down by microbes. The feedstock to produce the bio-polymers may come from processing of crops grown for the purpose or the byproduce of other crops (renewable resources and natural polymers).

Related Topics:Shaw Industries Group, Inc.

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