5 ms·

What about biodegradable plastics? If regular plastics were made illegal or heavily taxed, wouldn't industry quickly come up with biodegradable alternatives?

barney54 6y ago
It’s not easy to find good biodegradable alternatives for many types of plastics. See the example of Legos trying to replace their plastic with a more environmentally friendly version. https://www.wsj.com/articles/lego-struggles-to-find-a-plant-based-plastic-that-clicks-11560331800 https://www.wsj.com/articles/lego-struggles-to-find-a-plant-...
- derefr 6y ago
  Seems weird to want biodegradable lego, when they’re highly reusable. I’ve never heard of a LEGO brick get so worn out that it had to be thrown away. Making them rot would just decrease their productive multi-generational lifespan.
  - endgame 6y ago
    ... which would increase the ability of the market to absorb new LEGO(R) Bricks! Genius.
  - ehnto 6y ago
    Everything has the potential to end up in the environment, so we have to consider the full cycle of the product. I think you might underestimate how much LEGO ends up in the bin.
DenisM 6y ago
Biodegrading plastic releases CO2, landfill-buried plastic does not. Apart from that, what problem are you trying to solve with this innovation?
- Thiez 6y ago
  If the biodegradable plastic isn't made of oil but something we grow, then it would still be CO2 neutral.
  - DenisM 6y ago
    So is petroleum-derived plastic buried in the landfill. In fact bio-derived plastic buried in the landfill is carbon-negative and should be encourged!
- trickstra 6y ago
  The problem with plastic is not the CO2, but the fact that we are producing more and more of it and it does not decompose so we now have it in forests, rivers, ocean, fish, drinking water, our bodies... this can't continue, it's not a sustainable path.
donavanm 6y ago
Current biodegradable plastics are an industry smokescreen. The biodegradable portion is generally plant starch used as a binder. The “plastic” is just that, a very stable long lived micro/nano plastic. The big chunks break down, and the plastics continue to move through the environment and bioaccumulate. The work towards truly biodegrade plastic is generally from the other end; identifying or making organisms that can break down the polymers themselves. Those don’t seem to be commercially viable, and in themselves won’t address environmental plastic pollution.
- johnisgood 6y ago
  What about hemp or mushrooms?
  - infogulch 6y ago
    We overuse plastic when paper would suffice. But then some worry about cutting down trees for paper. Hemp is a pretty good crop for the natural fibers needed in paper production (and many other things besides) and could replace trees as raw material source for paper.
- jononor 6y ago
  Which plastics are you refering to? In a PLA plastic for example (which is derived from lactic acid, derived from startch) there is no distinction between "binder" and "plastic", and there is no starch left in the resulting production. Granted the biodegradability of many formulations is still far too long and requires unrealistic circumstances to happen in the wild (hot composting for example).

barney54 6y ago

It’s not easy to find good biodegradable alternatives for many types of plastics. See the example of Legos trying to replace their plastic with a more environmentally friendly version. https://www.wsj.com/articles/lego-struggles-to-find-a-plant-based-plastic-that-clicks-11560331800 https://www.wsj.com/articles/lego-struggles-to-find-a-plant-...

derefr 6y ago
Seems weird to want biodegradable lego, when they’re highly reusable. I’ve never heard of a LEGO brick get so worn out that it had to be thrown away. Making them rot would just decrease their productive multi-generational lifespan.
- endgame 6y ago
  ... which would increase the ability of the market to absorb new LEGO(R) Bricks! Genius.
- ehnto 6y ago
  Everything has the potential to end up in the environment, so we have to consider the full cycle of the product. I think you might underestimate how much LEGO ends up in the bin.

DenisM 6y ago

Biodegrading plastic releases CO2, landfill-buried plastic does not. Apart from that, what problem are you trying to solve with this innovation?

Thiez 6y ago
If the biodegradable plastic isn't made of oil but something we grow, then it would still be CO2 neutral.
- DenisM 6y ago
  So is petroleum-derived plastic buried in the landfill. In fact bio-derived plastic buried in the landfill is carbon-negative and should be encourged!
trickstra 6y ago
The problem with plastic is not the CO2, but the fact that we are producing more and more of it and it does not decompose so we now have it in forests, rivers, ocean, fish, drinking water, our bodies... this can't continue, it's not a sustainable path.

donavanm 6y ago

Current biodegradable plastics are an industry smokescreen. The biodegradable portion is generally plant starch used as a binder. The “plastic” is just that, a very stable long lived micro/nano plastic. The big chunks break down, and the plastics continue to move through the environment and bioaccumulate. The work towards truly biodegrade plastic is generally from the other end; identifying or making organisms that can break down the polymers themselves. Those don’t seem to be commercially viable, and in themselves won’t address environmental plastic pollution.

johnisgood 6y ago
What about hemp or mushrooms?
- infogulch 6y ago
  We overuse plastic when paper would suffice. But then some worry about cutting down trees for paper. Hemp is a pretty good crop for the natural fibers needed in paper production (and many other things besides) and could replace trees as raw material source for paper.
jononor 6y ago
Which plastics are you refering to? In a PLA plastic for example (which is derived from lactic acid, derived from startch) there is no distinction between "binder" and "plastic", and there is no starch left in the resulting production. Granted the biodegradability of many formulations is still far too long and requires unrealistic circumstances to happen in the wild (hot composting for example).