Biobased Plastics

   Bioplastics are derived from renewable resources such as corn starch, plant derived sugar, cellulose or vegetable oil as against fossil fuel based plastics that are derived from petroleum. The plastics that are biodegradable are generally biobased; however some plastics that are biobased (derived from renewable resources) are non-degradable.  It is vital to note the difference between the terms biobased and biodegradable as a polymer may be made from 100% renewable carbon which makes it 100% biobased but may not be necessarily biodegradable.

   The reason for the increasing acceptance of bioplastics is that they can be made using polymers that come from agricultural and marine feedstocks thus relying on natural resources rather than petroleum oils. Bioplastics production and use may be regarded as a more sustainable activity due to less reliance on fossil fuel carbon and producing very less amount of greenhouse gases after biodegradation compared to petroleum based plastics. Another advantage of using bioplastics is that they possess similar physical properties as of most of the conventional plastics and at the same time can be processed on conventional plastics processing equipments. In addition, they can be disposed off to degrade naturally after their useful life.