Transitioning to Biomaterials

WHY BIOMATERIALS? THE PROBLEM WITH FOSSIL-BASED PLASTICS.

Since the mid-20th century, plastics have grown to dominate a wide-range of material markets due to their high versatility and performance. However, the majority of plastics are derived from fossil fuels and often include chemicals of concern. The production and recycling of plastics account for 3.4% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Plastics typically take hundreds of years to biodegrade, during which time the chemicals leach into waterways and soil systems. Globally we produce over 400 million tons of plastic waste each year and the global recycling rate is less than 10%. The building industry is the second largest consumer of plastics and uses 70% of worldwide PVC. This is a grave problem.

By 2050, there may be more plastic by weight in the ocean than fish. Traces of nanoplastics and microplastics, small pieces of plastic debris, have been found in the human bloodstream, lungs, urine, and placenta. Plastics are in nearly every product category in materials used in buildings today, including paints, finishes, packaging, flooring, and textiles. Over 54% of textile fibers are polyester. The performance benefits of plastics have come at a high cost to both environmental and human health. Replacing fossil-fuel sources with bio-based sources can decrease material carbon footprint.

HOW ARE BIOMATERIALS DERIVED?

Sources of biomaterials range from agricultural, marine, and mineral. Some raw materials may come from a current waste stream, such as agricultural or food waste, furthering the circular economy. This is preferred over products made from raw materials that use land or feedstocks otherwise used for food production. Bioplastics are a broad category within biomaterials, derived from a variety of resources and processes to achieve diverse properties.

SO, ARE BIOPLASTICS BETTER?

As we covered in our last two articles on biodefinitions and the BioPreferred? label, “bio-based” does not necessarily mean that biomaterials are safer or more environmentally friendly. Even when products contain bio-based content, they may still contain synthetic components or additives of concern, which can render them comparable in toxicity to petroleum-based products. The process to create bio-based polyurethane, for example, often still includes isocyanates similar to the production of petrochemical polyurethane.??

It is important to look for ingredient disclosure to fully understand health and environmental impacts. This may be challenging as this is a rapidly developing field with limited available research, standards and certifications and manufacturers may want to withhold proprietary information from competitors. In many cases, the CAS#(1) or EIN# for a petrochemical product will be identical to its innovative, plant-based replacement.

WE NEED MORE END-OF-LIFE MATERIAL EVALUATIONS

The USDA BioPreferred? label declares the percentage of biobased content based on ASTM 6866 third-party testing and establishes minimum thresholds for bio-based products per product category. However, more global standards are necessary and must be established to clarify lifecycle impacts of bioplastics and other biomaterials.?

The end of life is key to evaluating biomaterials, which should ideally be compostable. “Compostable” specifies that when a material biodegrades, it breaks down completely into natural components like oxygen and hydrogen. Biodegradable means a product can break down within soil or water by naturally occurring organisms. Biodegradability is dependent on the polymer structure and material properties and is not synonymous with bio-based materials; fossil fuel plastics can be designed to be biodegradable and bioplastics can create microplastics if they are not able to break down completely.?

A bioplastic like PLA, which is currently on the market, can only break down completely within industrial composting facilities. But, industrial composting is not currently readily accessible, and does not have established systems to be a viable end of life solution. Even when the option to industrially compost is available, bioplastics can look identical to traditional plastics so there is confusion around what is compostable versus recyclable. Bioplastics are typically not recycled. The ASTM D6400 standard qualifies products as aerobically compostable in municipal and industrial facilities.?

It is essential that all new biomaterials including bioplastics are created to be compostable by microorganisms and can completely degrade without these controlled parameters.?

CAN BIOPLASTICS BE SCALED AND REPLACE PETROLEUM BASED PLASTICS?

A current challenge associated with bioplastics, and biomaterials in general, is scale. Natural and agricultural resources require an infrastructure for scaling up production and manufacturers need a large market share to keep costs low for consumers. At the moment, many new bioplastic products are more expensive than their fossil-based counterparts.

Removing all plastics from our economy may not yet be possible. Still, replacing the most toxic plastics that contain chemicals of concern, such as PVC, with healthier, biodegradable solutions is essential and doable. Bioplastics are a potential solution when plastic is necessary. We must still reduce our consumption of all plastics and find alternatives for single-use plastics.?

Bioplastics can offer a lower carbon footprint. According to Bioplastics For A Circular Economy, replacing fossil fuel with sugarcane feedstocks reduces CO2 emissions by 25%. If combined with renewable energies and cutting our consumption of plastics in half, this could increase to a 93% emissions decrease.?

Moving from high carbon, toxics emitting materials to new 100% compostable, plant based products is a complicated but necessary step to reduce and eliminate our dependence on fossil fuels. Materials that originate from ecological sources, combined with current technology, can produce durable, high-performing, and regenerative building products. Ideally, they biodegrade at the end of their useful life and benefit the ecosystems and all living things.?

We acknowledge there are challenges for transitioning from a fossil-based past to a bio-based future, but we believe we can get there. Find some great products within our healthy and regenerative collections, including: plant, animal, fungi, bacterial, mineral, algae/seaweed, and biofabricated.

(1) A CAS Registry Number is a unique and unambiguous identifier for a specific substance that allows clear communication and, with the help of CAS scientists, links together all available data and research about that substance” https://www.cas.org/cas-data/cas-registry

(images: S?uld , Materiom , Positive Plastics , Jessica Thies , The Real Milk Paint Co. LLC )