Plastic Pollution. The Role of (Bio)Degradable Plastics and Other Solutions

In this chapter we will look at the problem of plastic pollution (macroplastics and micro- and nanoplastics or MNPs), the impact of MNPs and the possible solutions that we could implement to mitigate this ever-growing problem. We will also address the role that biodegradable plastics can play in the larger picture of strategies that can be developed and implemented to push back on plastic pollution. Although biodegradable plastics will often not be a viable solution for the plastics pollution problem, plastics of the future should also have design features that address end-of-life such as closed-loop recyclability, and fate-in-nature: even slow biodegradation will avoid accumulation over decades or even centuries as is the case for current materials such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyolefins. Although readily biodegradable plastic is not desired for most plastics applications, the fact that materials biodegrade, even when slow, is very important.