BIODEGRADABLE PLASTICS FROM VEGETABLE RAW-MATERIALS

Plastic waste is becoming a serious ecological problem. A new development which may help to solve the plastic waste problem is the use oi bioplastics, which are obtained from organic raw materials and are biodegradable and often compostable. Bioplastics are based on renewable vegetable sources and have a much lower price than synthetic biodegradable plastics. They can be processed on conventional machines and can possess properties comparable to those of commodity plastics. In this paper an overview of the basic characteristics oi bioplastics is given. Four types of bioplastics which oiler the most promising price/performance ratio are discussed in detail.