Sustainability and Bioplastics

United Nation Brundtland Commission (1987)

Meeting the demands of current generation without sacrificing the demands of the future generations

World population expected to reach ___ by 2050

9 billion

Which one is more Sustainable?
Paper plate or leaf plate

paper plate
Need data for what's environmental friendly or not

UN Sustainable Development Goals

17 goals, examples: no poverty, zero hunger, good health and well being, quality education

Greenhouse gases

The more of the build up, more effect of global warming
Bottom of the society impacted a lot
Have weather patterns

U.S. EPA Waste Hierarchy

packaging
consumer & institutional products
other & textiles

Sustainable Packaging Systems

Source reduction
Circular Economy
Multiprone strategies
Product Loss in supply chain
Waste Management
Environmental footprints
Bio-materials
Compostable

Meal Kits vs Grocery Store Waste vs Value Proposition

Shelf life
Quick disposal
Minimize waste for materials
Low food waste and high material use: not good
High good waste and low material use: not good either
Good product stability
Balancing things
Materials is small of the carbon footprint

Meal kits have (lower/higher) packaging impact

higher

Grocery store has (higher/lower) Green house gas emissions

higher

reason why Grocery store has higher Green house gas emissions

meal kits have pre-portioned size

reason why reduced Food Waste/ Extended shelf life can lead to reduced carbon emissions

Yes
Emissions in every step of the process
Food wastage: emissions
Landfill: emissions

Active Packaging

Packaging actively protects, beyond containment and protection

Active Packaging examples

Modified Atmosphere Packaging

Intelligent Food Packaging

"Smart Packaging"
Monitor freshness
Enhance customer's safety

More Examples of Intelligent Food Packaging

Amcor MaxQ
RipeSense

Porous Materials

deployed to modify the atmosphere
can be used for intelligent Packaging applications

Intelligent Packaging to extend life leads to

educe waste/elevate nutritional content

U.S. EPA Waste Hierarchy

All options are needed in the system
Reducing our demand on resources is most favorable

most preferred for U.S. EPA waste hierarchy

reduction and reuse

reduction and reuse example in the U.S. EPA waste hierarchy

Reduce ecommerce boxes

Energy Recovery

Incarcerate (burn)
Break large chains into smaller chemicals

Spectroscopy

Study of Interaction between matter and electromagnetic radiations
Depending on a material: determine the spectrum: footprint of that material
In particular, infrared rays are used

Electromagnetic radiations

Transverse oscillating wave of electric and magnetic field

Two types of Polymer Recycling

Mechanical recycling
chemical recycling

Mechanical recycling

Chopping the pieces and then melting and extruding

Melting the plastics and reforming

Mechanical recycling advantages

Most common
Effective
Energy efficient (lower carbon footprint)

Mechanical recycling disadvantages

Heterogenous source of flakes or pellets
Thermal degradation
Poor control over functional performance
May or may not be Suitable for Food contact applications.

Chemical recycling Advantages

Better quality control over end properties
Like virgin resin
Can be used for food contact applications

Chemical recycling disadvantages

More energy intensive
Time intensive
Higher carbon footprint than mechanical recycling

Chemical Recycling is also known as

advanced recycling/molecular recycling/solvolysis

Chemical Recycling

Converting plastics/macromolecules in monomers or small desirable chemical molecules (and/or monomers)
in other words, depolymerization

two considerations for chemical recyling

Cost and contamination

Popular chemical recycling pathways of PET

Glycolysis
Hydrolysis
Methanolysis

____ will depend on the chemical recycling route

end product

Pyrolysis break down polymers

At high temperatures (400-500oC) you break down polymers into:
Hydrocarbons
Liquid oils
Gases
Char
Other small molecules
Mixture of some/all of the above

Pyrolysis Final product factors

polymer type, temperature

Pyrolysis uses

energy recovery/ crude from plastic etc

Microbial degradation of PET

certain plastics microorganism may exist in nature which can degrade the polymers

PETase

enzyme which can cleave ester bonds present in PET

PETase can be produced by_

specific fungi and bacteria

Waste

Need certain conditions for the enzymes and rate of degradation
Thicker materials: stay longer to attack the microorganisms compared to thinner materials

LCA stands for

Environmental Footprint Life Cycle Assessment

LCA

For assessing environmental impact associated with all the stages
Data driven
Better decision making

Life Cycle Analysis- Cradle to Cradle

Plant
Corn
Corn→chemicals
Chemicals→polymers
Polymers→ products
Compostable files--->CO2, H2O
CO2, H2O--->Photosynthesis
Cycle repeats

Life Cycle Analysis- Cradle to Grave

or Production→landfill
Petro→waste

take, make, and waste