Should we be making plastics out of biomass?

Replying to: phil kennen

12 July 2009
“I’m delighted that this new web site hasbeen set up,we need to do a heck of alot more to raise public awareness.
My greatest concern about the whole plastic issue is that very little is mentioned about oil being finite…”

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It is clear that at some time in the (distant) future oil may be either depleted or too expensive to extract. However the use of biomass to produce raw materials to make plastics is certainly not an unrealistic dream. Such processes already exist making the materials for either new plastics or well established ones such as polyethylene.

As for the need for cheap renewable energy, this is something on which we can all agree as being desirable.It would allow many processes to become competitive with conventional oil based systems. But in the meantime we should not underestimate the importance of innovation in general in reducing, for instance, the amount of plastic required for a given application as well as efficiency improvements in logistics and handling systems.

Finally it should be noted that burning plastics does not need to be a waste of resources. Post-use plastics are a high calorific fuel which can help save the resources of traditional fossil fuels. And even municipal incinerators in Europe are obliged to recover energy from the household waste which is burned.

Replying to: Malcolm

13 July 2009
“How about we think of the existing polymer materials as a quantity of valuable materials the “pool of materials”.  Then we use the 4R’s doing our utmost not to deplete the pool of available materials to keep making things from?...”

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The concept of a “pool of materials” which are continuously recovered and recycled in an interesting one. It can, for example be usefully applied with specific metals which can be readily collected and sorted prior to re-processing. However , with other materials such as paper and plastics it is more difficult as there is a reduction in physical properties on processing, and a variety of different types which are difficult (and energy intensive) to separate. This is why there should be a degree of flexibility in applying the 4 R’s. An example where the ‘pool of materials’ concept does work with plastics is with the recycling of carbonated drinks bottles which are all made from the same plastic and are readily identified and collected.

As regards using biomass as a source of raw materials for plastics, it clearly makes sense to focus on waste agricultural products where possible. There are also interesting developments in making raw materials from non food biomass such as algae.

Kosmo Vinyl

10 July 2009, 22.59
“I think the main issue with making plastics with bio-mass is one of quantity. There isnt a proven way to produce plastics from bio-mass on a large scale that I’m aware of yet. This would be a real breakthrough if we could find it…”

Plastics are in fact already being made out of basic materials derived from biomass, and on quite a large scale. There is however currently much discussion on whether food crops should be used for such purposes. It is expected that the basic chemical building blocks for plastics will increasingly be produced from sources such as algae and other non-food sources.

How about we think of the existing polymer materials as a quantity of valuable materials the “pool of materials”.  Then we use the 4R’s doing our utmost not to deplete the pool of available materials to keep making things from? 

The biomas basis for making new polymers should perhaps be from agricultural and horticultural waste rather than from food growing land.  Meaning food comes first and from the processig waste we make new polymer materials.

Should we be making plastics out of biomass?

I guess this raises a similar question to the bio-fuels industry: should an empty stomach be in direct competition with an empty petrol tank (bio-fuels) or feed stocks for drinks bottles (bio-polymers).

Their adoption and use would be pretty good (especially due to the reduced environmental damage through rapid decomposition), but is the aim to create materials that are more sustainable and lessen mankind’s impact on earth or are we trying to alleviate our consciences by not using ‘dirty dirty oil’? All of the corn used as raw feed stocks will have required rather intensive farming, which is of course energy (and potentially fossil fuel?) hungry.

I’m delighted that this new web site hasbeen set up,we need to do a heck of alot more to raise public awareness.
My greatest concern about the whole plastic issue is that very little is mentioned about oil being finite, it will run out one day, be it 100,500 or 1000 years &we; are not being fair to future generations. Bio plastic can only scratch the surface.
Burning waste plastic is a waste of a resource,it is no different than burning oil,and whats the point if we waste the energy once we have generated it?
Recycling plastic is not rocket science,it just needs the capital, which the government are reluctant to stump up. We also need cheap renewable energy for recycling so that the products we can make are at a price competitve to products made from virgin oil, only then can the recyclingindustry be sustainable.  Phil, Cornwall

I think the main issue with making plastics with bio-mass is one of quantity. There isnt a proven way to produce plastics from bio-mass on a large scale that I’m aware of yet. This would be a real breakthrough if we could find it…

I think it is a shame that so many people don’t realize or understand the usefulness of plants as replacement sources for products made from wasteful petroleum.  Americans resist hemp paper (which could save trees) simply because they don’t understand the difference between a drug and a crop.  It is important to educate people about the positive options available to reduce our dependency on petroleum products.