Benchmarking Bioplastics: A Natural Step Towards a Sustainable Future
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REVIEW
Benchmarking Bioplastics: A Natural Step Towards a Sustainable Future Geetika Bhagwat1 · Kelsey Gray1 · Scott P. Wilson2 · Sudhakar Muniyasamy3,4 · Salom Gnana Thanga Vincent5,6 · Richard Bush7 · Thava Palanisami5
© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract The ubiquitous presence of plastic litter and its tending fate as marine debris have given rise to a strong anti-waste global movement which implicitly endorses bioplastics as a promising substitute. With ‘corporate social responsibility’ growing ever more popular as a business promotional tool, companies and businesses are continually making claims about their products being “green”, “environmentally friendly”, “biodegradable”, or “100% compostable”. Imprudent use of these words creates a false sense of assurance at the consumer end about them being responsible towards the environment by choosing these products. The policies surrounding bioplastics regulation are neither stringent not enforceable at both national and international stage which indirectly allow these “safe words” to be used as an easy plug to validate the supposed corporate social responsibility. Similar to conventional plastics, unregulated and mismanaged bioplastics could potentially create another environmental mayhem. Therefore, it is a crucial time to harness the power of law to set applicable standards with a high threshold for the classification of “bioplastics”, which companies can aspire to, and customers can trust. In this review, we analyse the multifarious international bioplastics standards, critically assess the potential shortcomings and highlight how the intersection of law with science and technology is crucial towards the reform of bioplastics regulation. Graphic Abstract
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13
Vol.:(0123456789)
Journal of Polymers and the Environment
Keywords Bioplastics · Bio-based plastics · Bioplastic policies · Plastic pollution · Bioplastic standards · Biodegradable · Global policies Abbreviations AS Australian Standard ASTM American Society for Testing and Materials CEN European Committee for Standardization DIN Deutsches Institut für Normung OR German Institute for standardization JBPA Japan BioPlastics Association OECD Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development PLA Poly(lactic acid) PHAs Polyhydroxyalkanoates PHB Polyhydroxybutyrate PHBV Poly(hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate) PCL Polycaprolactone PBAT Poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) PBS Poly(butylene succinate) PE Polyethylene PP Polypropylene PET Polyethylene terephthalate
Introduction Overwhelming environmental accumulation of plastic waste and its deleterious impacts have been underlined and validated with enough scientific evidence in the last couple of decades [1–4]. Several worldwide campaigns and perpetually increasing consumer awareness persuaded lawmakers from several countries in African, Asian and European continent to completely ban or implemented levies on the use of
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