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Environmental impacts of biodegradable microplastics
Summary
This study found that while biodegradable microplastics are less toxic to aquatic life than conventional plastics, they produce higher greenhouse gas emissions as they break down in natural environments. The finding challenges the assumption that biodegradable plastics are always better for the environment and highlights the need to carefully assess tradeoffs.
Abstract Biodegradable plastics, perceived as ‘environmentally friendly’ materials, may end up in natural environments. This impact is often overlooked in the literature due to a lack of assessment methods. This study develops an integrated life cycle impact assessment methodology to assess the climate-change and aquatic-ecotoxicity impacts of biodegradable microplastics in freshwater ecosystems. Our results reveal that highly biodegradable microplastics have lower aquatic ecotoxicity but higher greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The extent of burden shifting depends on microplastic size and density. Plastic biodegradation in natural environments can result in higher GHG emissions than biodegradation in engineered end of life (for example, anaerobic digestion), contributing substantially to the life cycle GHG emissions of biodegradable plastics (excluding the use phase). A sensitivity analysis identified critical biodegradation rates for different plastic sizes that result in maximum GHG emissions. This work advances understanding of the environmental impacts of biodegradable plastics, providing an approach for the assessment and design of future plastics.