Papers

61,005 results
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Review Tier 2

Lignocellulosic biomass from agricultural waste to the circular economy: a review with focus on biofuels, biocomposites and bioplastics

This review examines how agricultural waste rich in lignocellulose can be converted into biofuels, biocomposites, and bioplastics as sustainable alternatives to petroleum-based products. Recent advances in biorefinery technology have improved the ability to process plant-based waste into a range of useful materials. Replacing conventional plastics with bioplastics from agricultural waste could help reduce both plastic pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

2023 Journal of Cleaner Production 969 citations
Article Tier 2

Socio-economic Importance of Biomaterials in the Transition to the Circular Economy Model

Researchers examined the socio-economic role of biomaterials in transitioning economies toward the circular economy model, finding that substituting conventional plastics with bio-based materials can reduce waste accumulation while meeting EU sustainable development targets for 2030.

2021 SHS Web of Conferences 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Bio-based plastics in a circular economy: A review of recovery pathways and implications for product design

Researchers reviewed how bio-based plastics — made from renewable plant sources — can be recovered and recycled at end-of-life, finding that the feasibility of eight different recovery methods depends heavily not just on plastic chemistry but on how products are designed, and offering guidance for designers to improve recyclability.

2023 Resources Conservation and Recycling 34 citations
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

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

Bio-based plastics – a sustainable solution to plastic pollution

This review outlines the production, properties, and sustainability potential of bio-based plastics derived from renewable or recycled raw materials, arguing they can form part of a circular economy with lower carbon footprints than conventional petroleum-based plastics.

2025 Microbiology Australia 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Evaluation of Eco-Friendly Hemp-Fiber-Reinforced Recycled HDPE Composites

Researchers developed hemp-fiber-reinforced recycled HDPE composites from postconsumer plastic waste, demonstrating that these sustainable biocomposites can serve as eco-friendly alternatives to conventional wood-plastic composite products.

2023 Journal of Composites Science 44 citations
Article Tier 2

Recent innovations in the developments of biopolymer-based materials for the removal of micro- and nanoplastics: A review of performance, critical factors, practicability and knowledge gaps

A review of recent innovations in biopolymer-based materials for various applications assessed how bio-derived polymers are being developed to reduce reliance on fossil-fuel plastics. The transition to biopolymers is relevant to reducing the long-term sources of microplastic pollution.

2025 International Journal of Biological Macromolecules 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Nanocellulose Hybrid Lignin Complex Reinforces Cellulose to Form a Strong, Water-Stable Lignin–Cellulose Composite Usable as a Plastic Replacement

This study developed a strong, water-stable composite material made from cellulose and lignin extracted from agricultural waste (sugarcane bagasse), as an eco-friendly alternative to plastic. The lignin-cellulose composite showed dramatically improved wet strength compared to regular cellulose sheets, demonstrating potential as a biodegradable plastic replacement that would not generate persistent microplastic pollution.

2021 Nanomaterials 18 citations
Article Tier 2

Biocosmetics: technological advances and future outlook

Researchers reviewed emerging biocosmetics technologies, examining how bio-based and naturally derived ingredients are being extracted and formulated to replace conventional fossil-fuel-derived cosmetic components, with a focus on circular economy manufacturing and biodegradable packaging.

2021 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 158 citations
Article Tier 2

Towards a Circular Economy of Plastics: An Evaluation of the Systematic Transition to a New Generation of Bioplastics

This review evaluates the transition from petroleum-based plastics to bioplastics within a circular economy framework, assessing the sustainability, production challenges, and environmental trade-offs of current bioplastic alternatives.

2022 Polymers 87 citations
Article Tier 2

Performance Spectrum of Home-Compostable Biopolymer Fibers Compared to a Petrochemical Alternative

Researchers compared home-compostable biopolymer fibers to conventional petrochemical alternatives, evaluating their mechanical performance and degradability to assess whether biobased materials can serve as viable substitutes that reduce microplastic pollution.

2023 Polymers 14 citations
Article Tier 2

Enhancing PolyelectrolyteStrength of Biopolymersfor Fully Recyclable and Biodegradable Plastics

Researchers developed a fully recyclable and biodegradable plastic material created through solid polyelectrolyte complexation of naturally occurring biopolymers, enhancing their polyelectrolyte strength to achieve mechanical properties competitive with conventional single-use packaging plastics. The study demonstrated that this approach addresses both the microplastic pollution problem and fossil fuel dependence while enabling end-of-life recyclability.

2025 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Renewable cellulosic nanocomposites for food packaging to avoid fossil fuel plastic pollution: a review

Researchers reviewed how cellulose nanoparticles extracted from plant biomass can replace petroleum-based plastics in food packaging, finding that adding just 1–5% cellulose nanoparticles significantly improves strength, reduces oxygen and water vapor permeability, and keeps packaging biodegradable. The review positions cellulose nanocomposites as a scalable, eco-friendly alternative to fossil-fuel plastics that contribute to microplastic pollution.

2020 Environmental Chemistry Letters 222 citations
Article Tier 2

Recycling of Bioplastics: Routes and Benefits

Researchers reviewed how bioplastics — plastics made from biological sources rather than petroleum — combined with mechanical and chemical recycling could replace conventional plastics and help reduce microplastic buildup in marine ecosystems that ultimately accumulates in humans.

2020 Journal of Polymers and the Environment 342 citations
Article Tier 2

Lignin-driven valorization of lignocellulosic biomass to functional biochar for advanced wastewater remediation: A review

A study explored how lignin-derived materials from lignocellulosic biomass can be valorized into functional products as a sustainable alternative to petroleum-based plastics. Expanding bio-based alternatives is a key strategy for reducing the production of plastics that eventually become environmental microplastic pollutants.

2025 International Journal of Biological Macromolecules 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Bioeconomía de biopolímeros basados en residuos orgánicos domésticos para la disminución del impacto ambiental generado por residuos plásticos de un solo uso en el Edificio Pasaje Amador de la ciudad de Quito.

This Ecuadorian thesis applied bioeconomy principles to develop biopolymers from domestic organic waste as a substitute for single-use plastics in an urban building. Using locally produced bio-based materials to replace single-use plastics directly addresses the generation of the plastic waste that eventually becomes microplastics.

2023 ACI Avances en Ciencias e Ingenierías
Article Tier 2

Development of Eco-Friendly Packaging Films from Soyhull Lignocellulose: Towards Valorizing Agro-Industrial Byproducts

Researchers developed a biodegradable packaging film from soyhull waste, a byproduct of the soybean industry, as an alternative to petroleum-based plastics. The film showed good barrier and mechanical properties suitable for food packaging applications. This type of innovation is important because replacing conventional plastic packaging with biodegradable alternatives could reduce the generation of microplastics that contaminate food and the environment.

2024 Foods 15 citations
Article Tier 2

Sustainable Plastics with High Performance and Convenient Processibility

Researchers developed a new approach to creating sustainable plastics by combining bio-derived polymers with petroleum-based monomers through in situ polymerization. The resulting materials showed strong mechanical properties, good processability, and improved environmental degradability compared to conventional plastics. The study offers a potential pathway toward reducing microplastic pollution by designing plastics that break down more readily after disposal.

2024 Advanced Science 13 citations
Article Tier 2

The Production of High-Added-Value Bioproducts from Non-Conventional Biomasses: An Overview

This paper is not relevant to microplastics research — it is a broad review of biomass valorisation from food-processing residues for producing bioproducts, focused on circular economy applications in the food and materials sectors.

2023 Biomass 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Bioplastics in the circular bioeconomy: Production pathways, biodegradation mechanisms, and environmental implications

This comprehensive review examines how bioplastics — plastics made from renewable biological sources — fit into a circular economy, covering how they are produced, how microorganisms break them down, and the environmental risks when degradation is incomplete. A key concern is that even bio-based plastics can form microplastics if they do not fully degrade in real-world conditions like marine or soil environments, meaning that simply switching to bioplastics does not automatically solve the microplastic pollution problem.

2026 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Lignin beyond the status quo: recent and emerging composite applications

This review examines recent advances in using lignin, a natural plant polymer, as a component in composite materials across various industries. Researchers highlight how lignin-based composites can serve as biodegradable alternatives to conventional plastics in packaging, construction, and other applications. The study suggests that scaling up lignin-based materials could help reduce dependence on petroleum-derived plastics and the resulting microplastic pollution.

2023 Green Chemistry 114 citations
Article Tier 2

Toward a Circular Bioeconomy: Development of Pineapple Stem Starch Composite as a Plastic-Sheet Substitute for Single-Use Applications

This paper is not about microplastics; it develops a biodegradable composite material from pineapple stem starch as a substitute for hard-to-recycle single-use plastic items.

2023 Polymers 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Synthesis and Study of Fully Biodegradable Composites Based on Poly(butylene succinate) and Biochar

Researchers synthesized poly(butylene succinate) biocomposites containing up to 5% biochar and found that incorporating biochar improved thermal stability and altered mechanical properties, offering a pathway to fully biodegradable materials that could help address microplastic pollution from conventional plastics.

2023 Polymers 28 citations