A new landmark review of 30 life cycle assessments shows that bio-based plastics like PLA are beneficial to the environment and lower the use of fossil resources.
The bioplastics market is expanding rapidly and by 2030 could account for 10 per cent of the total plastics market. But as the market grows so to does the public discussion whether these new plastics, that are based on biomass instead of mineral oil, really do have ecological advantages.
Oliver Schmid, Managing Director of Proganic, whose company commissioned the study and use bio-based plastics in a range of products such as garden and household goods, said: “More and more customers are interested in bio-based solutions, but only in those possessing distinct ecological advantages.”
“We owe it to our customers to generate reliable data and make these available to them,” he added.
Tags: meta-analysis, PLA, PHA, PC, PET, PS, PP
Source: NNFCC, 2012-03-06.