Bioplastics: Development, Possibilities and Difficulties

Abstract

New possible ways of plastics manufacture and waste treatment are being searched when trying to tackle the problems related to the growth of waste quantities and decline in non-renewable resources. Presently, the most promising and effective way to solve the mentioned problems is production of bioplastics, but its way to recognition is very slow. One of the barriers is the absence of clear and united opinion throughout the EU Arising new discussions about biodegradable and biobased plastics will allow responsible authorities to update and adapt the legal law, which now almost does not include any reglement on bioplastics production and usage. The other issues of bioplastics are social aspects as this material can be made of primal food sources like crops, and the ecological ones because of their unknown effects on human health and the environment. Nevertheless, the main problem remains the same - the price of petro-plastics is still lower than that of bioplastics. Despite this, the biggest companies of the world are starting an initiative to manufacture this new kind of plastics and to widen the range of bioplastics usage in packaging. Considering today’s situation and tendencies, at the end of this paper the recommendations for the improvement and speeding up of the processes related to bioplastics manufacture, usage and its waste management in Europe and Lithuania are presented.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.erem.68.2.6777