Bioplastics-Opportunities and Challenges

Advanced Polymer and Nanomaterial Laboratory (APNL), Department of Chemical Sciences, Tezpur University, Napaam-784 028, Tezpur, Assam, India E-mail: karakniranjan@gmail.com Bioplastics are plastics, which are derived from natural renewable resources and are biodegradable. They are of current interest in the field of polymeric materials to combat the drawbacks of conventional petroleum-based plastics. Plastic waste management is a critical issue for these petroleum-based non-biodegradable plastic articles, especially 'single-use-plastic' products. They create environmental pollution, and risk to humans as well as other living systems, and hence reached alarming anxiety across the globe towards environmental and health issues. Thus, an alternative to such plastics is essential for eliminating or at least minimizing these detrimental issues. In this milieu, bioplastics not only remove the non-renewability issue for petrochemicals but also minimize the pollution and carbon footprint problems of petroleum-plastics. However, these bioplastics, in general, suffer from processing difficulties and inferior mechanical performance compared to the corres­ponding petroleum-based plastics and hence demand more comprehensive research and awareness in the field. Fortunately, recent research showed that appropriate modifica­tions of such bioplastics can eliminate most of their material-related shortcomings. But details of life cycle assessment analyses are required to prove their significance and environmental superiority over petroleum-based plastics. In this article, therefore, a general overview of bioplastics from basic concepts to future trends including significance, limitations, and conclusion is presented