When I first heard about plastics made from something renewable like corn instead of petroleum, that are biodegradable…I could only say count me in! As I write this I have several pens around me made from bioplastics. I also have a bioplastic cafeteria tray, fork, bowl, and cup sitting on the shelf behind me. But last week I read about another side of these bioplastics.
I first learned that not all bioplastics are biodegradable. But they are still made from renewable resources and that’s an improvement at least. Isn’t it??? Maybe not. Studies conducted by Dr. Tillman Gengross at Dartmouth College have pointed out some of the less green features of bioplastics. His studies have shown that in terms of bioplastics production it’s “almost a wash” with conventional plastics production. “In fact, the energy consumption is significantly higher.”
Accroding to Dr. Gengross:
- Turning oil into a plastic requires considerably less energy than turning corn sugar into plastics.
- Generating glucose (most commonly from corn) requires a significant amount of energy and usually the use of fertilizers, pesticides, irrigation, etc.
- Land used for producing this glucose is not sequestering the carbon dioxide in the way it would if left in a natural state.
- Corn grown for bioplastics is competing with corn grown for eating or feeding to livestock.
That’s not all… “if these materials end up in landfills they will degrade in landfills at a rather slow rate. But because of the anaerobic environment in landfills, the carbon that is released is not released in the form of carbon dioxide, it is mostly released in the form of methane. And methane is a very potent greenhouse gas. It’s about twenty times more potent than carbon dioxide.”
Dr. Gengross says he isn't promoting either side but would prefer to see us taking a more critical look “not this fuzzy ‘it’s green because it comes from a renewable plant’ approach.”
It’s incredible how little we know about these ‘bioplastics’. I’m just like the mainstream on these kinds of issues. I often believe they are biodegradable and better for the environment if I’m simply told by the company making them. I never think to take a closer look. This proves for the millionth time that we all need to take that closer look. I guess the question we have to ask here is if the energy and resources used to make these bioplastics out weigh the benefits of there biodegradable capabilities? Does the end product do enough for the environment to truly call them bioplastics or does the process of creating make their name obsolete? I would like to think they are doing something to help the environment but I just don’t know enough. At the same time, if you’re surrounded with bioplastics, Mr. LaFave, they must not be too expensive. The school is buying bioplastic products in bulk which also points to them being inexpensive. So, if the production cost is so high, why are the final products cheap enough that the mainstream buys them? Especially in today’s economy in which everyone is looking to save.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with this Dr. Gengoss. I think that people shouldn't take sides on this biodegradable plastics. Although I have to say at first glance I was all excited about biodegradable plastics, thinking this could be a way that I could help save the environment. But while continuting my reading I realized the only plus to these biodegradable plastics would be they would break down in landfills. Energy used to make these plastics is just as much and even worse than the energy used to make conventional plastics. But I agree with Dr. Gengross, there are positives and negatives that need to be addressed and thought about before anyone decides to "jump on the bandwagon". Such as, "not all bioplastics are biodegradable", which would be a negative and "they would after time these plastics would break down in landfills", which is a positive. I know personally I am NOT deciding on which side I am taking until I find out more information about this. I hope I'm not the only one curious about if these plastics are really gonna help the environment or just make it worse? What does everyone else think? Have you made up your mind yet on if you support these biodegradable plastics?
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, you have to understand that corn isn’t designed for a cow’s stomach. Cow’s stomachs are made to digest grass, not corn. Also, some farmers are mandated by the government to grow however much corn in their fields at a time. Farmers DO NOT have to use pesticides and herbicides, but they choose to because they believe they get more profit from it. People nowadays can choose who they buy from. You know, they could choose from the farmers who use pesticides and still have pesticides in the foods once they hit the market, or the local organic farms. The article states that “Turning oil into a plastic requires considerably less energy..”. If we could produce half bio plastics and half regular plastics, then the oil that we don’t turn into plastic can be used for other purposes, like making it to the gas stations which would lead to oil prices going down.
ReplyDeleteI think that we just need to stop using plastic in general and find a substitute. It seems nothing good ever comes out of plastic no matter if you try to make it eco-friendly. Scientists have come up with ways to make a car run on energy from the sun so why not just only use plastic if it's absolutley necessary. Why you have to use those plastic rings to keep cans of soda together is beyond me. They could just put them in a recycled box made out of recycled cardboard. It's not hard to just change the packaging something is in. It doesn't require that much effort and you would save the world from letting those plastics sit in landfills and release the gases into the atmosphere.
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