Blog

May 31,2019,Philippines—Consumerism is affecting the global manufacturing industry in a lot of negative ways. Not only does it force manufacturers to keep on producing products that can be replaced after a short time, but it also contributes to more waste creation.

Fortunately, more and more consumers are becoming conscious that their consumption behavior greatly affects the environment. As a matter of fact, Nielsen in their 2015 Global Sustainability Report shows that 66% of surveyed consumers say that they are willing to pay more for sustainable brands which was higher from the 55% result of the previous year.

Of course, the global manufacturing industry, especially plastic manufacturing who has favored single-use consumption for a long time, is aware of this change in consumer behavior and has started to make their operations and manufacturing solutions lean towards sustainability.

Creating plastic from biodegradable polymers

It would be easy to produce and use less plastics, or find an alternative, only if humans used plastics in tinier amounts. However, according to Earth Day Network, more than 480 billion plastic bottles were sold worldwide in 2016 and about one trillion single-use plastic bags are used annually worldwide.

Getting rid of plastics without harming the environment is extremely difficult simply because they are engineered to last. There are biodegradable polymers, however, which can produce three kinds of eco-friendly plastics: bioplastics, biodegradable plastics, and recycled plastics.

Bioplastics are made from natural materials like corn starch, orange peels, and plants. On the other hand, biodegradable plastics are petroleum-based plastics, much like traditional plastics, but uses an additive that makes them break down quickly. Lastly, recycled plastics are simply made from recycled plastic materials.

Some biodegradable polymers are already actively in use by plastic manufacturing companies, especially in the production of drugs. There is also an increasing effort in creating more eco-friendly plastic bags around the world like the soluble bag SoluBag by Chilean researchers Roberto Astete and Cristian Olivares.

Creating biodegradable plastic from landfill waste

Bioplastics seem promising for plastic waste reduction. However, this means valuable agricultural land would have to be used for bioplastic production instead for providing food. Because of this exact reason, students from Imperial College of London did the award-winning project of re-engineering the genetic code of harmless E.Coli bacteria to turn landfill waste into bioplastics or biodegradable plastics.

This project is not only beneficial in creating a new material for plastics, but it is also a great alternative to using petroleum in plastic manufacturing. Moreover, it is extremely beneficial in reducing waste by literally freeing up landfill areas of plastic waste.

Recycling plastic in manufacturing

Single-use plastics offered super-flexibility and suitability for a wide range of packaging applications. Not to mention, they are of lower cost and are more durable than other packaging alternatives. However, the rise of single-use plastics obviously has resulted to more plastic waste.

It is easy to tell plastic manufacturing companies to just start recycling plastics to reduce waste. However, the truth is Polyethylene Terephthalate or PET, which is what most plastic bottles are made out of, loses a lot of its quality during the recycling process. Only 6% of PET actually ends up recycled into a new product, while the rest ends up as litter.

Fortunately for the environment, Ambercycle Inc. founder Akshay Sethi and his team came up with a solution to recycle PET polymers. By using synthetic biology, they are able to degrade plastics into its chemical components Terephthalic Acid and Ethylene Glycol, with the former being a raw material used in making high-performance multi-purpose plastics.

Although still in beginning stages, Ambercycle will greatly help plastic manufacturing companies make plastic recycling actually effective in the future.

Whether manufacturers truly care for the environment or they simply do not want to lose their loyal consumers, it is a great thing for the planet that they are starting to make their manufacturing solutions more sustainable. Of course, it would be much better if more people are doing more eco-friendly efforts because they care about the world they we live in.