Biofocals: The short- and long-term impacts of bioplastics on the waste industry
Guy Robinson
Bioplastics are evolving rapidly. The European industry predicts significant growth in 2007, particularly in biopackaging. As the range of materials and markets continue to expand, the potential implications for the waste industry are undergoing close scrutiny.
by Guy Robinson
Bioplastics contribute to climate protection, save fossil resources and create jobs in future-oriented sectors’, said Heinz Zourek at the first European Bioplastics Conference in November 2006. Zourek is not alone in his view. Indeed, for those who feel increasingly swamped in an avalanche of packaging waste, this may sound like basic common sense.
The use of bioplastics is becoming more common in the packaging industry and in the manufacture of catering and hygiene products. But as this nascent industry grows, is the waste industry prepared for what lies ahead?
Truly, biodegradable products should in principle reduce our dependence on landfills. However, this will not happen automatically. The right infrastructure is required, coupled with a more widespread understanding of how to handle this relatively new waste stream.
Background
According to Jennifer Farin from the Rochester Institute of Technology, US, the first documented interest in producing plastic from renewable resources came from Henry Ford around 1910. Ford was interested in making plastic from agricultural waste. In 1941, he succeeded and produced a ‘plastic car’ from soybean waste mixed with other components to increase its strength.
Since then, the market for biodegradable products has expanded into a large variety of sectors, such as compostable bags, cutlery, food packaging and plant pots. Applications in the biomedical field are growing, including surgical fixation, controlled drug delivery and tissue-engineering scaffolds. And even a wedding dress has been made of a tissue of fabric created with NatureWorks’ biopolymer.
The size of the market for these products is growing as stakeholders seek alternatives to petrochemical-based products. This is reflected in the emergence in 2006 of Bioplastics, a magazine dedicated to this industry alone.
Advances in bioplastics
As environmental concerns become more prominent, stimulating greater debate and greater investment in the bioplastics sector, so the range of biodegradable products expands. It is impossible to cover all developments in an article such as this; however, European Bioplastics - an association for the European bioplastics industry - summarizes recent advances as follows:
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Tomatoes wrapped in NatureFlex. Packaging is a popular bioplastic product. Photo: INNOVIA
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- new PLA films with high-density polyethylene (HDPE) properties have been produced by FKuR Kunststoff GmbH
- Treofan has introduced white PLA films and peelable PLD lid films
- Metalized film has been manufactured from cellulose by Innovia Films, and from PLA by Treofan
- Natura has launched fully compostable labels made from paper or PLA bioplastic
- Foamed bioplastic trays are available from Coopbox and Sirap Gema
- the first completely biodegradable bottle was introduced by Ihr Platz
- a full range of ‘master batches’ for PLA and starch-based materials are available from PolyOne and Sukano.
The market
2006 was a good year, according to European Bioplastics. Numerous stores throughout Europe are introducing biopackaging and users’ interest has grown across all product sectors. Commercially, this is driven by:
- raised consumer environmental awareness
- companies being increasingly prepared to actively support sustainable development
- the sharp rise in raw material and energy prices.
Currently the bioplastics market share of total plastics consumption in Europe accounts for less than 1%; however, the Association indicates that companies from this sector anticipate continued strong positive growth in 2007.
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Compostable packaging used by UK supermarket chain Sainsbury’s. photo: novamont
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Frank Ernst, Business Development Manager at Treofan, comments: ‘We at Treofan do business in both areas - traditional fossil plastics and bioplastics. We can already see a dramatic shift towards sustainable packaging made of annually renewable resources.’
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Strawberries in a NatureWorks PLA punnet. photo: autobar
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This shift has been picked up by the ‘conventional’ packaging industry too. In September 2006 The British Plastics Federation (BPF) raised serious questions following the announcement by Sainsbury’s - one of the largest UK supermarkets - of its aim to use compostable plastic packaging for its organic produce and ready meal range, in place of conventional plastics materials.
Peter Davis, BPF Director General, commented: ‘The development of biodegradable plastics represents an important innovation with a part to play, but the full environmental costs of growing and processing crops into packaging need to be borne in mind. Furthermore, depending on the packaging type, composting can produce increased carbon dioxide and methane emissions, both greenhouse gases. To divert more waste from landfill, we need to consider all the options, including increased recycling and energy-from-waste capacity.’
Waste management concerns
The outlook for bioplastics would therefore appear to be good; however, the implications for the waste industry merit further exploration.
According to Ian Bartle, and independent consultant and former Chairman of the UK Compostable Packaging Group, bioplastics present two challenges that need to be overcome if the potential benefits of this technology are to be realized:
- Many bioplastics are very similar in appearance to conventional plastics. Hence educating consumers on how best to handle these materials must be an important priority.
- Bioplastics used in food packaging must be composted in an ‘in-vessel’ or enclosed system to comply with Animal By-Products Regulations, and the number of relevant facilities must be increased to support significant use.
Bartle also highlights a growing concern over products that are termed ‘oxo-degradable’ and ‘oxo-biodegradable’. These are manufactured from conventional polyethylene and their degradation takes three to four years. This is not a viable time-frame within conventional composting standards.
And these are not the only concerns. Tom L. Eng, Sales and Marketing Director from TiTech Visionsort, comments: ‘While TiTech Visionsort has carried out trials that have proven the ability of its technology to sort biodegradable materials out of a mixed waste stream, certain TiTech customers have already questioned the use of the material which would seem to promote the return to landfill.’ This highlights the uncertainty that currently exists in this sector, which has already proved unsettling for some stakeholders.
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In order to comply with the Animal By-Products Regulations, the composting of bioplastics used in food packaging should be done in enclosed systems. photo: new earth solutions
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In October 2006, a coalition of citizen and recycling organizations and local recyclers in the US challenged NatureWorks’ plans to push its new PLA bioplastic in bottles. The coalition called on NatureWorks to agree to a moratorium on any further expansion of PLA in bottles until the bio-resin’s recyclability has been demonstrated. In particular, their concern rested on the economic viability of recycling or composting PLA bottles and on the potentially negative impact of PLA bottles on the economics of PET bottle recycling.
Brenda Platt from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) commented as follows: ‘No recycling infrastructure exists for plastic cutlery, plates and cups. We want bio-based companies to focus on replacing non-recyclable disposable plastic products such as polystyrene. Stay away from bottles, which have a well established recycling system.’
An emerging opportunity
The waste management industry has previously adapted to transition impacted by large-scale industrial change and consequently established operations are periodically subject to radical overhaul. If the biological sector is to meet its challenge, then serious investment will be required.
Peter Mills, Contracts Director at New Earth Solutions Ltd, views the current situation in the UK optimistically: ‘The biological treatment sector has never had a greater opportunity to demonstrate its contribution to dealing with the UK’s recycling and landfill diversion requirements.
‘The most pragmatic approach is to encourage a change in the nature of the packaging. We are seeing a ready acceptance of biodegradable plastics and so we should be encouraging the use of these within packaging systems. The biological treatments sector can handle the volumes and types of waste requiring diversion from landfill, but industry wide, the sector will need to review the types of technologies employed, and their capacity to adapt in line with a changing waste flow, while ensuring that previous issues concerning odours and bio-aerosols are addressed and resolved.
‘New Earth technology has the proven capacity to divert over 80% of the biodegradable content of municipal waste from landfill via a non-thermal biological technology as measured by the Organic Resource Agency (ORA), and our methodology was recently the first of its kind to be assessed according to Environment Agency guidance.
‘We have already proved that bioplastics can be processed effectively. It is imperative to recognize the value inherent in products and source-segregated waste that cannot be processed via composting treatments. Where a product is non-biodegradable we employ physical sorting processes and recovery technology to ensure the successful stabilization and recovery of residual waste containing metals and highly valuable fossil carbon. Be it a source-segregated or residual waste treatment process, the over-riding principle is one of giving waste a second chance, of capture and recovery. And as product packaging and industry must evolve in line with higher environmental objectives, so must the technology that serves it.’
Questions remain
The bioplastics industry still remains relatively young, but it is evolving rapidly. To support further expansion of this sector, the industry will require a supportive regulatory framework. European Bioplastics points to the established legal framework which made it possible for the renewable energy and biofuels sector to reach their current strong positions and highlights that ‘renewable products’ lack such measures on a European level.
In addition, the industry must jostle for position with other stakeholders in the waste management chain. And, if they have not already done so, the manufacturers of biodegradable products should be prepared to establish the credibility of their products as truly environmentally benign.
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Bioplastic waste that is intended to be composted must be compliant with the relevant environmental and material standard. photo: new earth solutions
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Dr Jane Gilbert, Chief Executive of the UK Composting Association, commented: ‘Bioplastics products currently marketed in the UK are made from materials that differ widely in their degradability. To ensure that they break down adequately during composting, bioplastic waste that is intended to be recovered in this way must be certified compliant with the relevant European standard.
‘Bioplastics have the potential to assist with separate collection schemes but there remains significant potential for confusion at composting sites. Plastic contamination remains one of the biggest challenges for compost producers. This is why certified polymers should be used and backed up with a comprehensive communications campaign for end-users.’
Returning to the debate surrounding the PLA bottles by NatureWorks, Tom Padia, speaking as a member of the Plastic Redesign Project’s PLA Committee, said the groups had three core questions that NatureWorks needs to adequately address before PLA bottles should be made:
- Can PLA be economically depolymerized and recycled, including for food-grade bottles?
- Can PLA be mechanically recycled, including into food-grade bottles, in a technically and economically feasible manner?
- Can PLA in volume be adequately sorted from PET to enable high-end markets for the PET?
These sorts of questions need to be addressed across the range of biodegradable products and applications to ensure a thriving future.
Guy Robinson is Commissioning Editor of Waste Management World
e-mail: wmw@pennwell.com
Acknowledgements
Thanks are paid in particular to Peter Mills, Contracts Director from New Earth Solutions Ltd for his input into this article.
Bioplastics: the basics
The building blocks for most biodegradable plastics are derived from crops such as maize, wheat and potatoes - and thus can be considered a renewable source. These building blocks - namely starch (a naturally occurring polymer) or polylactic acid (PLA) - break down over time to yield carbon dioxide and water. If this degradation occurs in a formal composting environment and the materials used have complied with one of the relevant standards, then the products are deemed ‘compostable’. Unsurprisingly, since the products originate from a renewable source, they are deemed more environmentally friendly than ‘non-renewable’ plastics.
Case study: local integration
Novamont - a major player in the bioplastics industry - has recently opened a ‘green biorefinery’ in Terni, Italy. It views the development of biorefineries - which use renewable raw materials that are produced locally and operate in an integrated chain - as a central part of the company’s plans for the future.
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Mater-Bi tableware and hygiene products. photo: novamont
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The company has 120 employees (30% specializing in research and development) and in 2005 had a registered turnover of €35 million, 60% of which was made abroad. 10% of this amount was invested in research and development. Its Mater-Bi brand is one of the best known products in this sector.
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