[Green bulldog]

Imagine a biopolymer used to make everything from packaging and consumer goods to fibers for apparel and home furnishings derived from renewable resources instead of oil.
A biopolymer that offers more disposal options and is more environmentally friendly to manufacture than traditional petroleum-based plastics. Derived from 100% annually renewable resources such as plants or corn, Ingeo™ natural plastic is the world's first polymer showing a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

One company utilizing Ingeo bioplastics is KWC, bottlers of renewal premium spring water™. renewal's water bottles and labels are entirely made from plants not from fossil fuels.
These bottles are compostable or recyclable. This unique ploylactide material (PLA) material ensures that, unlike the more common plastic bottles made from crude oil, renewal bottles can by recycled quickly and easily back into their original form and returned to the earth without damage to the environment.

Napcor, the voice of the plastics industry determined that the total number of pounds of PET or standard plastic bottles and jars, produced in the United States amounted to 5.3 billion pounds of plastic resin according to their most recent website posted totals from 2008. The amount of post consumer PET bottles collected for recycling in the US was 1.4 billion pounds in 2008. According to Napcor and The Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers, in 2008, 3.9 billion pounds of plastic was not recycled. These almost 4 billion pounds of plastic most likely ended up in landfills.

Of the 1.4 billion pounds of plastic that were recycled, Chinese traders purchased 723 million pounds or ½ of the recycled plastic. It is not very environmentally friendly to ship plastic bottles off to China. The plastic bottle journey could start in the Middle East, get refined in the US, and then shipped to China. Plastic bottles made from oil, really uses a lot of oil in shipping and transportation.

It is time for a change. Bioplastics offer a future that supports farmers of the United States. Hopefully the bioplastics industry increasing production of these eco-friendly products.

For more information on these companies, please visit their website.

www.natureworksllc.com - bioplastic company
www.renewal-water.com - ultra pure spring water in an eco-friendly water bottle
www.napcor.com - voice of the oil based plastics industry

[Leah]

I don't know about this. Not to self-promote, a Green Blog article I wrote a while ago touched on these issues: http://www.green-blo...d-and-the-ugly/

I agree that we need a change. But I believe we need to drastically cut our dependence on all forms of plastic, no matter what it's made from. I don't know about the other forms of bioplastic you mentioned, but in reference to corn plastic (to take pieces directly from my article):

-In order to biodegrade, the PLA must receive sufficient amounts of oxygen, water, light and soil, which are not usually present in a landfill. Thus, it can take corn plastic just as long as regular plastic to break down—up to one thousand years. Unfortunately, that means that using corn plastic bags to line trash cans is no better than using regular plastic.
- Regardless of what some companies claim, PLA can cause severe reactions to people who have corn allergies. I know people who this has happened to.
-Most of the "corn plastic" is made from genetically modified corn.
-The use of corn for anything other than food seems a little selfish when we consider how much of the world’s population go hungry every day. For example, the use of corn for ethanol has increased the price, and the demand, of this important crop.
-Furthermore, corn crops require an enormous amount of pesticides and chemical fertilizers compared to other US-grown crops.

Basically, I don't support the idea of bioplastic. Its an oversimplified solution to a much greater problem, and much more drastic measures must be taken.

[Link]

Wow. I'm glad you wrote that Leah. If the conditions for it to break down are so hard to fulfill, and if it can take a thousand years to break down, then it's hardly a solution at all. I'm still hoping that they can improve on it so that bioplastic can become an option. We need materials that are plastic-like but organically disposable.

I can understand the argument that food should be used for food, especially since it seems that there isn't enough of it. I would be happier if they could make it out of something that we don't eat. However, as long as we have enough food, I don't see a problem with it. We use water for drinking, but we also use it for the industry. But maybe that's also not such a great idea. At least not with drinkable water.