Trends in development and marketing of degradable plastics

Abstract

Plastics are comparatively new polymeric materials that are manufactured by chemical synthesis, making them different from natural materials such as wood, paper, stone, metal, and glass. Due to a wide range of properties, including processing capabilities and duration, plastics have become rapidly ubiquitous, being used in all industries, and have improved our quality of life. However, it is true that plastics cause environmental contamination problems that have become important social issues, such as environmental hormone leakage due to incineration or reclamation, difficulty in securing reclamation sites, and deadly poisonous dioxin generated by the incomplete incineration of waste plastic materials. To solve these problems, it is urgent to develop and commercialize degradable plastics that can be stably and conveniently used just as general plastics, and that are easily decomposed by sunlight, soil microbes, and heat generated from reclaimed land after use. This review presents recent worldwide trends in the development and marketing of environmentally degradable plastics. © The Korean Society of Food Science and Technology.