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Bioplastics can cause more damage to the planet than usual, experts say

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Bioplastics can cause more damage to the planet than usual, experts say
Bioplastics can cause more damage to the planet than usual, experts say

Video: Liz Bonnin: The problem with plastic - and how science can solve it 2024, June

Video: Liz Bonnin: The problem with plastic - and how science can solve it 2024, June
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According to recycling expert Arthur Huang, bioplastics can cause more damage to the environment than regular plastics. Huang also said that switching to plastic made from plants instead of fossil fuels would require a huge amount of resources from agricultural land. This can cause environmental problems and even deprive people of food.

Arthur Huang is the founder and CEO of the Miniwiz engineering company, operating on the principle of a circular economy. He made a statement that bioplastics could be harmful when composting. The decomposition process of this material oxidizes soil and water, potentially polluting both land and the ocean. “If we recycle bioplastics, like regular plastics, it is just as harmful to the environment, ” said Arthur.

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Bioplastics are compostable but not biodegradable

Architect and engineer Huang is a specialist in plastic recycling technologies. In 2017, he partnered with Nike to develop sneaker packaging made from recycled beverage containers. Polylactic acid (PLA) is the most popular type of bioplastics that is made from fermented starch extracted from corn, potatoes, algae or sugarcane.

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PLA is a compostable type of bioplastics, which means that microbes decompose it into biomass and gas for several months under proper conditions. Under natural conditions, this bioplastics is destroyed as slowly as ordinary plastic. However, since PLA is an acid, according to Huang, it will increase the acidity of the environment during composting.

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Ocean plastic is an "aesthetic issue"

Huang made comments at the Ro Plastic Prize in Milan last week during a panel discussion on the relative merits of bioplastics and fossil fuels. The competition to promote plastics processing has received many awards. Juan challenged the idea that bioplastics is inherently better than plastic made from fossil fuels.

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He argued that ordinary plastic, which enters the soil or the ocean, is largely an aesthetic problem because it does not react and does not cause physical damage to the planet. It can even be argued that plastic waste is an effective method of storing carbon, since ordinary plastic is difficult to break down to the point that carbon is released. However, biodegradable materials completely dissolve in the soil, which means turning the aesthetic problem into a chemical one. ”

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