Emanation of Bioplastics-Every Now and Then–A Review

Srimukhi Mandava; P. Rajarao; A. Ravinder

Abstract

With the increasing population the usage of Fossil derived plastics has increased rapidly in daily lifedue to its low cost and good moulding properties. These conventional plastics are non-biodegradableand creates pollution in land, water and air ecosystem at the end of their life cycle. More than 90% ofplastics have been acquired from “fossil feedstocks”, and globally it reports around 4–8% of oilconsumption and was estimated to be attain around 20% by 2050. When plastics made frompetroleum are burnt, they release the carbon dioxide contained in the petroleum into the atmosphere,leading to global warming. Then there is dire need to use biodegradable plastics that can reduce theconsequences of such ill effects. Interest in bio composite materials and their use in variousapplications has been increasing constantly over a decade. The increasing environmental awarenessand lower material costs are the main driving forces for using renewable materials, such as cellulosefibers that can be derived from the agricultural waste and has a potential to be used as reinforcementmaterial in polymer composites preparation. Bio derived plastics/composites is an emergingalternative that has a unique property to decompose in natural environment and provides analternative eco-friendly solution to mimic the consequences that has been constantly occurring due tothe usage of plastics. The use of bioplastics offers significant advantages not only in an ecologicalsense but also in an economic sense as Bioplastics represent about one percent of the more than 368million tonnes of plastic produced annually. The main idea of this review paper is to give anelaborative information on bioplastics and its future prospects.

Abstract

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