Unlike petroplastics, bioplastics
are made from natural resources such as vegetable oils and starches,
mixed with materials derived from fossil fuels.
And they can be biodegradable.
BIO-BASED PLASTICS
Bioplastics that are ‘bio-based’ are partly or fully made from raw biological materials.
That is plastic mixtures made from biological raw materials, such as corn, sugarcane or seaweed, and petrochemicals, i.e. crude oil or natural gas.
BIODEGRADABLE PLASTICS
Some bio-based plastics are biodegradable.
Biodegradable plastics are bioplastics that decompose in a specific environment (water, compost, soil) under the right conditions and at a certain period - for example, disposable paper coffee cups.
Some bioplastics are biodegradable but not bio-based. For example Polycaprolactone (PCL), a synthetic polymer derived from petrochemical sources. PCL is used, for example, for drug delivery systems or cosmetics.
LEARN MORE
Check our sources: Bibliography →
KNOWLEDGE ABOUT PLASTIC
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO REDUCE PLASTIC POLLUTION
