Ever wondered if you should buy that product made from bioplastics rather than the conventional kind you see in supermarkets? Let’s define first what bioplastics are.
Bioplastics are biodegradable and/or biobased materials. Biobased polymers are produced using renewable resources. These bioplastic materials have properties like those of conventional plastics and can be warehoused in a comparable manner and processed on conventional plastic machines. What’s different is that biodegradable plastics can degrade in different environments, such as industrial composting, home composting, soil, and water.
Traditional plastic, on the other hand, is made from petroleum-based raw materials. It is the third most commonly used petroleum derivative in the world with 200 million tons of plastic consumed on the planet each year. Conventional or traditional plastics, such as fossil-fuel plastics are derived from petroleum or natural gas.
Below are four reasons why biodegradable plastics benefit the environment and help save natural resources.
- Saves non-renewable sources of energy
Biodegradable plastics help conserve petroleum supplies. Traditional plastics come from heating and treating oil molecules until they turn into polymers. Bioplastics come from natural sources including crops like corn and switchgrass. These can be naturally recycled by biological processes, thus limiting the use of fossil fuels and protecting the environment. In other words, this makes them conserve non-renewable sources of energy such as petroleum. It is also sustainable, largely biodegradable, and biocompatible. This should be a necessity in many industrial applications such as food packaging, agriculture and horticulture, composting bags, and hygiene. For businesses who want to start using bioplastics, the BioHappy collection from Alcas is a good place to start.
- Reduces carbon emission
The main advantage of using biodegradable plastic is a significant reduction in carbon emissions during the manufacturing process. And since the materials used to create biodegradable plastics are plant-based, minimal carbon will be emitted during the composting process. Bioplastics do produce significantly fewer greenhouse gas emissions than traditional plastics over their lifetime. There is no net increase in carbon dioxide when they break down because the plants that bioplastics are made from absorbing the same amount of carbon dioxide as they grew.
- Consumes less energy
With biodegradable plastics, the manufacturing process requires fewer amounts of energy. And given that they do not need fossil fuels to be recycled, the energy requirement is less, therefore, pollution and the overall environmental impact are significantly reduced. Our Bio-Happy Collection at Alcas includes Bio cups, Bio mixing cups, Bio ice cream spoon, Bio Round Mini Tray, and a lot more to cater to businesses who want to try bioplastics in their packaging.
- Provides an eco-friendly solution
Biodegradable plastics require composting or recycling to ensure proper breakdown of the plastic pieces. It is now being imposed as a requirement to properly dispose of biodegradable plastic products automatically to reduce the amount of waste. This is to reduce wastes that would otherwise be sent to landfills. In addition to that, the land areas can be used for agriculture, residence, or industrial applications instead of converting them into landfills.
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