{"id":1130,"date":"2017-06-29T12:59:32","date_gmt":"2017-06-29T11:59:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gecco.org.uk\/blog\/?p=4"},"modified":"2026-03-26T11:40:51","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T11:40:51","slug":"biodegradable-plastics-are-good-for-the-environment-arent-they","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gecco.org.uk\/blog\/2017\/06\/29\/biodegradable-plastics-are-good-for-the-environment-arent-they\/","title":{"rendered":"Biodegradable Plastics are Good for the Environment \u2013 aren\u2019t they?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Biodegradable plastics<\/b> are plastics degraded by microorganisms - usually bacteria - into water, carbon dioxide (or methane) and biomass under specified conditions.<\/p>\n

Most plastics\u00a0are derived from the processing\u00a0of non-renewable petroleum reserves. Plastics derived from biomass production\u00a0are known as \u2018bioplastics.\u2019 One of the\u00a0most common bioplastics is PLA (Polylactic Acid), which is\u00a0derived from renewable resources like corn starch or sugar cane and widely claimed to be compostable. PLA usage includes\u00a03-D printing,\u00a0plastic films, bottles, and biodegradable medical devices (e.g. screws, pins, plates etc.), breaking down inside the body within 6 months to 2 years.<\/p>\n

Although there are various grades of PLA material with each derived from a sustainable source, there is widespread coverage that a PLA bottle would naturally degrade. In a marine world this could still take up to 2 years (better than conventional plastics which could take several hundreds of years), this doesn\u2019t reflect the damage caused to the marine world during this time.<\/p>\n

With advisory notices stating materials are compostable \u2018in certain conditions under certain spaces\u2019 raises the questions further. The conditions and spaces lead to the answer of an industrial incinerator being required, heating at 140+ degrees which has limited facilities even on a global scale. Without the high temperature and other ingredients needed to break the PLA down, it will happily sit in landfill with all other plastics.<\/p>\n

The issue needs to\u00a0be addressed that plastic is plastic and rather than just keep producing new material, look at ways we can reduce the amount of material produced. Manufacturing products with a waste management process from the outset; where we can make, use and recycle back into material.\u00a0Considering every piece of plastic ever produced still exists in some shape or form, let\u2019s focus on\u00a0producing less and recycling more<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":1764,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environmental-sustainability"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t