A Review of Plastic Waste Biodegradation

Abstract

With more and more plastics being employed in human lives and increasing pressure being placed on capacities available for plastic waste disposal, the need for biodegradable plastics and biodegradation of plastic wastes has assumed increasing importance in the last few years. This review looks at the technological advancement made in the development of more easily biodegradable plastics and the biodegradation of conventional plastics by microorganisms. Additives, such as pro-oxidants and starch, are applied in synthetic materials to modify and make plastics biodegradable. Recent research has shown that thermoplastics derived from polyolefins, traditionally considered resistant to biodegradation in ambient environment, are biodegraded following photo-degradation and chemical degradation. Thermoset plastics, such as aliphatic polyester and polyester polyurethane, are easily attacked by microorganisms directly because of the potential hydrolytic cleavage of ester or urethane bonds in their structures. Some microorganisms have been isolated to utilize polyurethane as a sole source of carbon and nitrogen source. Aliphatic-aromatic copolyesters have active commercial applications because of their good mechanical properties and biodegradability. Reviewing published and ongoing studies on plastic biodegradation, this paper attempts to make conclusions on potentially viable methods to reduce impacts of plastic waste on the environment.

Development of an Analytical Solution Mathematical Model for a Thermoplastic Starch and Linear Low-Density Polyethylene Blends for Pyrolytic Degradation

“…On the other hand, incorporating starch into the polymer's backbone structure promotes bacteria attack in a biodegradation process [4]. Various researchers have reported starch-filled PE properties post weathering [5]- [6], and there have also been other degradation media studies [7]- [9]. Research into biodegradable polymers has always lacked one important aspect, showing a clear gap in the research.…”

Research on Biodegradable Films and Their Comparison with Ordinary Films

“…When they are abandoned, they will be in the environment for a long time, which are difficult to be decomposed, resulting in a large number of plastic waste in the environment accumulation to our planet, causing more serious pollution, such as white pollution, agriculture white cancer and so on [8][9][10][11][12][13] . At the same time, oxidation usually causes a series of food deterioration reaction, seriously affecting the food shelf life.…”

Silver effect on the biodegradation process of styrene-ethylene/butylene-styrene based thermoplastic elastomers compounds upon weathering exposure

“…Though the plasticizers used in TPE formulations can support microbial growth (Lugauskas et al, 2003), a structure composed solely of carbon and hydrogen make polymers resistant to biodegradation (Zheng et al, 2005). In spite of that, physical or chemical modification resulting from chemical hydrolysis, thermal or photodegradation cause a breakdown of the polymer chains and molecular weight reduction, rendering the polymer more susceptible to the action of living organisms (Bonhomme et al, 2003;Fontanella et al, 2013;Roé-Sosa et al, 2015;Portillo et al, 2016).…”