Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Bioplastics and the environment: Solution or Green Illusion?

This review critically evaluates whether bioplastics are genuinely environmentally friendly alternatives to conventional plastics, finding that many bioplastics degrade incompletely under real-world conditions, form persistent microplastic fragments, and may pose ecological risks comparable to conventional plastics.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials Plastics
Article Tier 2

Recent Advances in Bioplastics: Application and Biodegradation

This review examines recent advances in bioplastics — including their applications in packaging, agriculture, and medicine — and critically evaluates their actual biodegradation performance in both natural and industrial environments, finding a significant gap between claims and real-world outcomes.

2020 Polymers 376 citations
Article Tier 2

Design of new biopolymers for biomedicine and food-packaging

Researchers review new biopolymer designs intended for biomedical and food packaging applications, aiming to replace fossil-fuel-based plastics with biodegradable alternatives from renewable sources. Widespread adoption of such materials could significantly reduce long-term microplastic pollution.

2019 AMS Dottorato Institutional Doctoral Theses Repository (University of Bologna) 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Biodegradable plastics: Green hope or greenwashing?

This review examines biodegradable plastics and their limitations, finding that many do not break down effectively under real-world environmental conditions and may still fragment into microplastics. The authors caution that biodegradable plastics should not be viewed as a simple solution to plastic pollution without better standards and end-of-life infrastructure.

2020 Marine pollution bulletin
Article Tier 2

Biodegradable Polymers: The Future of Sustainable Plastic Alternatives

This review examines biodegradable polymers as sustainable alternatives to petroleum-based plastics, evaluating their potential to reduce microplastic pollution and ecological degradation. The authors assess the performance, environmental fate, and scalability of current biodegradable materials, identifying key challenges for widespread adoption across packaging and consumer product applications.

2025 Scriptora International Journal of Research and Innovation (SIJRI)
Article Tier 2

Bioplastics and biodegradable plastics: A review of recent advances, feasibility and cleaner production

Researchers systematically reviewed over 280 articles on bioplastics and biodegradable plastics, finding that while polylactic acid and polyhydroxyalkanoates reduce fossil fuel dependence, their higher production costs, lower durability, and tendency to form microplastics when improperly composted remain significant barriers to replacing conventional plastics.

2025 The Science of The Total Environment 59 citations
Article Tier 2

Exploring biopolymer degradation: Environmental effects and future insights

This review examines how biopolymers degrade in the environment and evaluates their potential as sustainable alternatives to conventional plastics. While biopolymers offer environmental benefits like reduced pollution, the study notes challenges including slower-than-expected degradation in natural settings, potential microplastic generation, and the need for better standardized testing and supportive policies.

2026 Journal of Thermoplastic Composite Materials
Article Tier 2

Understanding bioplastic materials - current state and trends

This review summarizes the current state of bioplastic materials, examining their properties, applications, and potential as alternatives to conventional petroleum-based plastics that contribute to environmental pollution. The authors assess both the promise and limitations of bioplastics in reducing the global plastic waste crisis.

2020 Journal of the Serbian Chemical Society 31 citations
Article Tier 2

Overcoming Challenges in the Commercialization of Biopolymers: From Research to Applications—A Review

This review examines the barriers preventing biopolymers from reaching commercial markets despite growing research interest. Researchers explored how fiber properties and processing conditions affect biodegradability, and how biopolymers can be manufactured on existing equipment. The study highlights biopolymers as a promising alternative to conventional plastics that could help reduce microplastic accumulation in the environment.

2024 Polymers 17 citations
Article Tier 2

Review of the Green Composite: Importance of Biopolymers, Uses and Challenges

This review examines the growing role of biopolymers and green composites as environmentally friendly alternatives to conventional petroleum-based plastics. The authors discuss how natural polymer structures can be engineered into composite materials that perform well while reducing long-term environmental harm. The study highlights both the promise and remaining challenges of scaling biopolymer use to replace traditional plastics that persist in the environment.

2023 Journal of Advanced Research in Fluid Mechanics and Thermal Sciences 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Consumer attitudes and concerns with bioplastics use: An international study

Researchers surveyed consumers across 42 countries about their knowledge and attitudes toward bioplastics as an alternative to conventional plastics. The study found that while most consumers were concerned about plastic pollution, awareness and understanding of bioplastics varied significantly across regions. The findings suggest that clearer labeling and better public education about bioplastic options could help drive consumer adoption of more sustainable materials.

2022 PLoS ONE 90 citations
Article Tier 2

Environmental performance of bioplastics: degradation pathways, chemical leaching, and life-cycle implications

This review of existing research found that bioplastics—supposedly eco-friendly alternatives to regular plastic—may not be as safe as promised. These "green" plastics can still break down into harmful microplastics and leak toxic chemicals, potentially affecting human health just like conventional plastics. The study shows we need better testing and disposal systems before bioplastics can truly be considered a safer choice for people and the environment.

2026 npj Materials Sustainability
Article Tier 2

Economia Circular E Desenvolvimento Sustentável: Compostabilidade, Biodegradação E Inovação Em Biopolímeros E Compósitos Renováveis Para Aplicações Estruturais, Agrícolas E Embalagens

This review paper summarizes research on new plant-based plastics that can break down naturally in the environment, unlike regular plastics made from oil. These eco-friendly materials could replace traditional plastic in food packaging and farming, potentially reducing the tiny plastic particles that end up in our food and water. However, the technology still needs improvements and better waste management systems before these biodegradable plastics can widely replace regular plastics.

2026 Aracê.
Article Tier 2

Biopolymer-based solutions for enhanced safety and quality assurance: A review

Researchers review how biopolymers are replacing petroleum-based plastics across the food industry, covering antimicrobial packaging, edible coatings, bioactive encapsulation, and smart polymer functions such as pH sensing and time-temperature monitoring that reduce food waste and microplastic pollution.

2024 Food Research International 28 citations
Article Tier 2

Emerging Bio-Based Polymers from Lab to Market: Current Strategies, Market Dynamics and Research Trends

This review explores the growing market for bio-based polymers, which are plastics made from renewable biological sources rather than petroleum. These materials are designed to be compostable and biodegradable, addressing public concern about plastic waste and microplastic pollution. While promising, the review notes that challenges remain in making bio-based plastics durable and cost-competitive enough to replace conventional plastics at scale.

2023 C – Journal of Carbon Research 62 citations
Article Tier 2

Benefits and Drawbacks of Bioplastic as an Alternative of Conventional Plastic towards Sustainable Plastic T

This review examines bioplastics derived from renewable biomass sources (such as corn starch, vegetable oils, and food waste) as sustainable alternatives to conventional petroleum-based plastics, evaluating their benefits and drawbacks across environmental performance, biodegradability, and scalability. The article explores whether bioplastics represent a viable pathway toward more sustainable plastic use given growing concerns over the non-biodegradable nature and resource intensity of conventional plastics.

2024 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AGRIWORLD
Article Tier 2

Sustainable struggling: decoding microplastic released from bioplastics—a critical review

This critical review examines biodegradable plastics as an alternative to conventional plastics, finding that many do not fully degrade under real-world conditions and can fragment into microplastics more rapidly than their conventional counterparts.

2024 Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 5 citations
Article Tier 2

A Review: Investigation of Plastics Effect on the Environment, Bioplastic Global Market Share and Its Future Perspectives

This review covers the environmental and human health impacts of plastics, with a focus on microplastics and nanoplastics, and reviews global trends in bioplastic production as an alternative. It finds that while bioplastics show promise, current production scale is far too small to address the existing plastic pollution crisis.

2019 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) 14 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

A Review on Biopolymer-Based Biodegradable Film for Food Packaging: Trends over the Last Decade and Future Research

This systematic review explores biodegradable packaging made from natural materials like starch and proteins as alternatives to conventional plastics. Reducing plastic packaging is important because traditional plastics break down into microplastics that contaminate food and the environment.

2023 Polymers 138 citations
Meta Analysis Tier 1

Environmental risks and regulatory gaps in bioplastics: A critical review of degradation pathways and ecosystem impacts

This meta-analysis of 143 studies reveals a troubling finding: some bioplastics marketed as eco-friendly alternatives can be just as toxic to ecosystems as conventional plastics. These materials may still break down into harmful micro- and nanoplastic particles. The research suggests that simply switching to bioplastics is not enough — we need better testing and regulation to ensure alternatives are truly safer.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials Plastics 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Bioplastics: Missing link in the era of Microplastics

Researchers examined whether bioplastics, often promoted as eco-friendly alternatives to conventional plastics, also break down into microplastics. They found that polyhydroxyalkanoate bioplastic films formed microplastic particles in water environments similar to conventional plastics. The study highlights that biodegradable plastics may not solve the microplastic problem and calls for more research into how quickly bioplastics actually degrade and what effects their microplastic fragments have on ecosystems.

2019 The Science of The Total Environment 302 citations
Article Tier 2

Advancements in the biopolymer films for food packaging applications: a short review

This review covers advances in biodegradable biopolymer films being developed to replace conventional plastic food packaging, which breaks down into microplastics that contaminate soil and water. While these plant-based alternatives show promise for reducing microplastic pollution, they still need improvements in strength and durability before they can compete with conventional plastics at commercial scale.

2024 Biotechnology for Sustainable Materials 43 citations
Article Tier 2

A Review of Bioplastics and Their Adoption in the Circular Economy

This review examines the current landscape of bioplastics, including bio-based and biodegradable materials, as potential alternatives to conventional fossil-fuel-derived plastics. Researchers assessed standards, life cycle analyses, and environmental performance of various bioplastic types. The study highlights that while bioplastics offer potential benefits for reducing fossil resource dependency, challenges remain around their actual environmental performance and integration into circular economy systems.

2021 Polymers 300 citations
Article Tier 2

A review on biodegradable polymer: Shortcomings, developments, and future direction

This review examines the current market share, classifications, and shortcomings of biodegradable polymer materials, synthesizing developments in this field and identifying future directions for reducing environmental pollution caused by conventional non-degradable polymer composites.

2023 Applied and Computational Engineering 3 citations