Bioplastic from Renewable Biomass: A Facile Solution for a Greener Environment

Abstract

Environmental pollutions are increasing day by day due to more plastic application. The plastic material is going in our food chain as well as the environment employing microplastic and other plastic-based contaminants. From this point, bio-based plastic research is taking attention for a sustainable and greener environment with a lower footprint on the environment. This evaluation should be made considering the whole life cycle assessment of the proposed technologies to make a whole range of biomaterials. Bio-based and biodegradable bioplastics can have similar features as conventional plastics while providing extra returns because of their low carbon footprint as long as additional features in waste management, like composting. Interest in competitive biodegradable materials is growing to limit environmental pollution and waste management problems. Bioplastics are defined as plastics deriving from biological sources and formed from renewable feedstocks or by a variation of microbes, owing to the ability to reduce the environmental effect. The research and development in this field of bio-renewable resources can seriously lead to the adoption of a low-carbon economy in medical, packaging, structural and automotive engineering, just to mention a few. This review aims to give a clear insight into the research, application opportunities, sourcing and sustainability, and environmental footprint of bioplastics production and various applications. Bioplastics are manufactured from polysaccharides, mainly starch-based, proteins, and other alternative carbon sources, such as algae or even wastewater treatment byproducts. The most known bioplastic today is thermoplastic starch, mainly as a result of enzymatic bioreactions. In this work, the main applications of bioplastics are accounted. One of them being food applications, where bioplastics seem to meet the food industry concerns about many the packaging-related issues and appear to play an important part for the whole food industry sustainability, helping to maintain high-quality standards throughout the whole production and transport steps, translating into cleaner and smarter delivery chains and waste management. High perspectives resides in agricultural and medical applications, while the number of fields of applications grows constantly, for example, structural engineering and electrical applications. As an example, bio-composites, even from vegetable oil sources, have been developed as fibers with biodegradable features and are constantly under research.

Illumination promoting biomass production in wastewater treatment for Rubrivivax gelatinosus

“…The bacteriochlorophyll and carotenoids plays vital parts in capturing illumination, converting illumination to electron and transferring electron. For clarifying the mechanisms of various illumination strength affecting BP and CR through regulating photosynthesis (PS), changes of bacteriochlorophyll, carotenoids contents were measured under all given groups separately [18][19][20][21]. Fig.…”

Stability of Film-Forming Dispersions: Affects the Morphology and Optical Properties of Polymeric Films

“…Despite their excellent mechanical properties, fossil-derived plastic materials cause environmental pollution due to their non-biodegradability. Therefore, there is a growing interest in replacing them with compostable and non-polluting biopolymers, moreover in food packaging [ 1 ]. There are many other different polymers used for film formation for various industrial applications around the world [ 2 , 3 ], either in batch or in immobilized condition.…”

Structural and Film-Forming Properties of Millet Starches: A Comparative Study

“…Today, bioplastic substances offer a reasonable substitute to traditional plastics and their applications. Of the total level of global plastic production, i.e., 370 million tonnes, the bio-plastic market's share is about 1% [11]. In spite of their mechanical characteristics, plastics derived from fossil fuels create environmental pollution due to their non-degradable nature [12].…”