Biodegradable Plastics

Biodegradable plastics are the materials that can undergo a chemical breakdown leading to disintegration or degradation by the action of naturally occurring microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi or algae in a variety of environments such as soil, compost, fresh and sea water. This process of molecular breakdown of plastic materials through the action of microorganisms is called as biodegradation. Biodegradable polymers can be made from renewable resources typically comprised of agriculture-based, biosynthesis-based and petroleum-based resources. Typical examples of agriculture based biodegradable polymers are cellulose and starch, those based on biosynthesis are polyhydroxyalkanoates, also known as bacterial polyesters and polylactic acid which is another type of thermoplastic polyester and finally those that are made from petroleum-derived products yet biodegradable are Polyvinyl Alcohol, Polycaprolactone to name a few.