Experts predict bioplastics rise – Bioplastics Italian National Research Council CNR - Arhive

Experts from the Italian National Research Council (CNR) have argued that in the early 2020s 100% organic bioplastics from the leftovers of agricultural production may become as competitive as traditional ones, even if not suitable for all uses.

CNR’s Giovanni Perotto said: “The main advantage is their biodegradability, in addition to the opportunity offered to stimulate the process of a circular economy. One possible result could be a shopping bag similar to traditional polyethylene ones, but which is organic and sustainable. If we think about it, it does not make sense today to use plastic that lasts for millennia for a product we use for only five minutes.”

Plastics can be made with the waste from tomato production, for example, or with the unused organic elements of coffee, spinach or cauliflower.

In this way, oil derivatives and other first-generation organic polymers can be replaced by renewable and sustainable 100% organic raw materials.

Bioplastic still costs 50% more to produce, and two main factors will narrow the gap with traditional plastic: economies of scale once large plants for organic polymeric packaging and the associated logistics chains are set up; and regulations on non-degradable plastics will be increasingly stringent at a time when oil extraction costs go up year-on-year.

The innovation doesn’t involve producing a completely organic polymer, but rather to use materials that would otherwise be wasted.

“This is the third generation of bioplastics,” says Mario Malinconico, research director of the Italian National Research Council (CNR) and scientific co-ordinator of the association Assobioplastiche.

“We are talking about a kind of production that has not yet become an industrial reality, but for which we already have a lot of prototypes. Wherever there is an agri-food chain with a large amount of process waste, the production of polymers could possibly be introduced.”

Moving forwards, the researchers believe that the most likely scenario will be the co-existence of different types of plastics. In particular, traditional plastics will still be more suitable in those cases where compostability is not a fundamental feature, such as packaging for reuse or recycle, and in high-temperature environments.