Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T10:33:10.578Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Carbon footprint of bioplastics using biocarbon content analysis and life-cycle assessment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 September 2011

Ramani Narayan
Ramani Narayan*
Affiliation:
Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA; narayan@msu.edu
Get access

Abstract

Bio-based plastics, in which the fossil carbon is replaced by bio/renewable-based carbon, offer the intrinsic value proposition of a reduced carbon footprint and are in complete harmony with the rates and time scale of the biological carbon cycle. Identification and quantification of bio-based content is based on the radioactive C-14 signature associated with (new) biocarbon. Using experimentally determined biocarbon content values, one can calculate the intrinsic CO2 emissions reduction achieved by substituting petrocarbon with biocarbon—the material carbon footprint value proposition. The process carbon footprint arising from the conversion of feedstock to final product is computed using life-cycle assessment methodology. Biodegradability in conjunction with selected disposal systems such as composting and anaerobic digestion offers an end-of-life solution to completely remove the plastic substrate from the environment. Not all bio-based polymer materials are biodegradable, and not all biodegradable polymers are bio-based. Most importantly, complete biodegradability (complete utilization of the polymer by the microorganisms present in the disposal environment) is necessary as per ASTM and ISO standards, otherwise there could be serious health and environmental consequences.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Bulletin , Volume 36 , Issue 9: Next-Generation Biopolymers: Advanced Functionality and Improved Sustainability , September 2011 , pp. 716 - 721
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Narayan, R., American Chemical Society Symposium Series, 939 (2006), C. 18, pp. 282.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2.Narayan, R., in Renewable Resources and Renewable Energy, Graziani, M., Fornasiero, P., Eds. (CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, 2006), C. 1.Google Scholar
3.ISO 14040 (Principles & Framework) and 14044 (Requirements & Guidelines) standards, International Standards Organization; www.iso.ch.Google Scholar
4.Association of Plastics Manufacturers in Europe, Brussels, Belgium; http://www.plasticseurope.org/.Google Scholar
5.Vink, E.T.H., Polym. Degrad. Stab. 80, 403 (2003).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
6.Vink, E.T.H., Glassner, D.A., Kolstad, J.J., Wooley, R.J., O’Connor, R.P., J. Ind. Biotechnol. 3 (1), 58 (2007).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7.ASTM International, Annual Book of Standards, Standards D 6866; D6400, D6868, D7021 (ASTM International, Philadelphia, PA, 2010), Vol. 8.03; www.astm.org.Google Scholar
8.U.S. Department of Agriculture Biobased Products Federal Procurement Program; www.biopreferred.gov.Google Scholar
9.Taking Biobased from Promise to Market (Ad-hoc Advisory Group for Bio-based Products in the framework of the European Commission’s Lead Market Initiative, November 2009); http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/biotechnology/files/docs/bio_based_from_promise_to_market_en.pdf.Google Scholar
10.Japan BioPlastics Association; www.jbpaweb.net/english/e-jbpa.htm.Google Scholar
11.Narayan, R., in Science and Engineering of Composting: Design, Environmental, Microbiological and Utilization Aspects, Hoitink, H.A.J., Keener, H.M., Eds. (Renaissance Publications, OH, 2003), pp. 339.Google Scholar
12.Galgali, P., Varma, A.J., Puntambekar, U.S., Gokhale, D.V., Chem. Commun. 23, 2884 (2002).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
13.Scott, G., in Degradable Polymers: Principles and Applications (Kluwer, NY, 2002), Chapter 3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
14.Ojeda, T.F.J., Dalmolin, E., Forte, M.M.C., Jacques, R.J.S., Bento, F.M., Camargo, F.A.O., Polym. Degrad. Stab. 94, 965 (2009).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
15.Thompson, R.C., Olsen, Y., Mitchell, R.P., Davis, A., Rowland, S.J., John, A.W.G., McGonigle, D., Russell, A.E., Science 304, 838 (2004).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
16.Algalita Marine Research Foundation; www.algalita.org/pelagic_plastic.html.Google Scholar
17.Mato, Y., Isobe, T., Takada, H., Kahnehiro, H., Ohtake, C., Kaminuma, T., Environ. Sci. Technol. 35, 318 (2001).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
18.Teuten, E.L., Saquing, J.M., Knappe, D.R.U., Barlaz, M.A., Jonsson, S., Björn, A., Rowland, S.J., Thompson, R.C., Galloway, T.S., Yamashita, R., et al. , Philos. Trans. R. Soc. London, Ser. B 364, 2027 (2009).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
19.Philos. Trans. R. Soc. London, Ser. B 264 (2009).Google Scholar