Bioplastic
Bioplastics are a form of plastics derived from renewable biomass sources, such as vegetable oil, corn starch, pea starch or microbiota, rather than traditional plastics which are derived from petroleum. They are used either as a direct replacement for traditional plastics or as blends with traditional plastics. There is no international agreement on how much bio-derived content is required to use the term bioplastic.
The terminology used in the bioplastics sector is sometimes misleading. Most in the industry use the term bioplastic to mean a plastic produced from a biological source. One of the oldest plastics, cellulose film, is made from wood cellulose. All bio and petroleum based plastics are technically biodegradable, meaning they can be degraded by microbes under suitable conditions. However many degrade at such slow rates as to be considered non-biodegradable. Some petrochemical-based plastics are considered biodegradable, and may be used as an additive to improve the performance of many commercial bioplastics. Non-biodegradable bioplastics are referred to as durable. The degree of biodegradability varies with temperature, polymer stability, and available oxygen content. Consequently, most bioplastics will only degrade in the tightly controlled conditions of commercial composting units. There is an internationally agreed standard that defines how quickly and to what extent a biodegradable plastic must be degraded under commercial composting conditions - EN13432. This is published by the International Organization for Standardization ISO and is recognized in many countries, including all of Europe, Japan and the US. However, it is designed only for the aggressive conditions of commercial composting units. There is no standard applicable to home composting conditions.
