Bioplastic disposables, why you shouldn’t buy them?
Bioplastics, such as avocado seed disposables or disposables made from corn or potato starch, are often advertised as an environmentally friendly and preferable alternative to conventional plastics. However, a recent study warns that this is not necessarily true. The research, recently published by the University of Bonn18 , concludes that greater demand for plant-based plastics could have fewer positive effects than expected; in particular, because greater consumption of bioplastics would require that cropland increase, with the consequent increase in greenhouse gas emissions on a global scale. Bioplastics are derived from plant products, such as corn or potatoes, unlike conventional plastic, derived from petroleum. The study, published in the journal Environmental Research Letters , explains that plastics are generally made from petroleum, with associated impacts in terms of depletion of fossil fuels and increased global warming.
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Plastic production is responsible, the study cites, for the emission of million metric tons of per year worldwide, almost half of the total that Germany emitted into the atmosphere in . By , according to estimates cited in the publication, plastics could be responsible for of global emissions. Now, bioplastics are, in principle, neutral in climate terms, since they are produced with renewable raw materials such as corn, wheat or sugar cane. These plants obtain the they need from the air through their leaves, therefore, it could be said that the production of bioplastics consumes , which would offset the amount of emissions that are released at the end of their useful life. This understanding assumes that the net balance of bioplastics is equal to zero, which is why they have been conceived as an environmentally friendly alternative.
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However, this situation does not correspond to the current level of technology. Firstly, because “the production of bioplastics in large quantities would change land use globally,” according to Dr. Neus Escobar, from the Institute of Food and Resource Economics at the University of Bonn, a participant in the investigation. “The consumption of bioplastics in large quantities does not seem to be an effective strategy to protect the climate,” he explains according to the publication. A hoax? The second reason why bioplastics are not environmentally neutral is because they are not made from 100% renewable raw materials, also because current technology has not reached that point. “In the case of avocado seed bioplastics, which became fashionable for straws, 70% of synthetic polymer based on petroleum is being added, because the biobased molecules of avocado do not have the resistance properties that a straw requires.
