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Could plastic be grown from the ground breaking oils stranglehold on global production?
It may sound like a dream, but crop sourced bioplastics are no longer a thing of tomorrow. In fact they’re closer than you think. Giles Crosse goes green with envy.
“I believe that the bioplastic industry is poised for a major growth in the next ten years and currently the principal feedstock used to grow the industry are starches from agricultural resources.” says Frederic Sheer. He’s the Chief Executive Officer of Cereplast, a US based manufacturer of plant sourced bioplastic.
Other companies in the field like Cereplast, Metabolix and Innovia are developing similar green plastics, for use in shopping bags, medical packaging and even upholstery in cars. But there are risks to this new science growing plastic from the ground.
“If you look at the inherent risks of working only with one source of feedstock coming from agriculture, we may create pressure on the costs of the feedstock, and if we start using extremely large quantities the cost will become prohibitive and bioplastic will become unsustainable and unattractive.” There’s also the risk of land scarcity caused by competing resources for biofuels, food and bioplastics.
“I do not believe that this may happen in the very near future, but if you look at the potential of growth it is in the billions, even hundreds of billions of pounds of material. Currently the polyolefin market is 495 billion pounds a year.” explains Scheer.
Plastic fantastic
“When you develop a new technology there are plenty of challenges,” continues Scheer. “But today I believe the most critical one is to find the right supplier of feedstock, as there are a plethora of developing technology in the algae field.”
Scheer believes algae has the greatest potential for making bioplastic, and it’s also handy for creating biofuels too. But how long before all this comes to a plastic product on a shelf near you?
“At this stage it is difficult to give a fixed date, but I would not expect to have anything available before the end of 2010 best case scenario. We will not put anything on the market until we are confident with our feedstock supply.”
Scheer thinks growth of these biosourced oil alternatives is unavoidable. “It is not a parallel development. It is a necessary development. If you look at the production of fuels from algae, one of the challenges is the biomass being created that needs to be used somewhere.”
“Developing biopolymers from such biomass makes a lot of sense. In a way it is very similar to traditional fossils fuels cracking and extraction, you make fuels but you also make polymers from fossil fuels. It is a very similar process.” he says.
Crop creations
Other companies in the field are actually making plastics from tobacco. Dr. Oliver Peoples is Chief Scientific Officer for Metabolix: “Metabolix is simply using tobacco as an experimental system. This was an opportunity to help lay the groundwork for planning and permitting related to future field trials in bioengineered, non-food industrial oilseed and biomass crops.”
The science isn’t limited to new start ups. Chemical giants like BASF are also moving to create bioplastic, sensing opportunities with this green arena. It’s important to understand ‘bioplastic’ doesn’t always mean 100 per cent plant based, as some companies make materials from oils and plants.
“Biodegradable plastics like our Ecoflex, petrochemical based, or Ecovio, partly biobased, have their specific application fields,” explains Dr. Sabine Philipp, Sustainable Plastics, BASF SE. She says they can be used in mulch films, or disposal bags for compostable goods.
There does seem to be a groundswell developing. Rosetta Mitchell owns US based Green Choice Vendors Distribution. She has launched FoodBizSupply.com, to supply sustainable packaging for food service, made from bioplastic.
“We will be creating a bakery category, with the introduction of a PLA bakery packaging line and launching a private label PLA biodegradable bottled water. The most positive trend is governments around the world backing biobased products to implement policies for environmental waste reduction.” she says.
“The negative trend, unfortunately, is the misinformation being fed to the public about biobased products by those who oppose it. The need for sustainable goods combined with growing demand was enough to merit the launch. It is our responsibility to help buyers gain a clear understanding through marketing and educational efforts.”
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