Papers

20 results
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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

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

Biodegradable Packaging : a Key to Environmental Sustainability

This paper reviews biodegradable packaging alternatives to conventional plastics, arguing that plant-based materials can reduce microplastic pollution in oceans, soil, and food systems. The authors survey available materials and manufacturing methods as part of a broader case for environmental sustainability.

2024 International Association of Biologicals and Computational Digest
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

Incarnation of bioplastics: recuperation of plastic pollution

This review explored bioplastics as eco-friendly alternatives to petroleum-based plastics, examining their production from agricultural and kitchen waste products and their potential for microbial decomposition to help reduce plastic pollution.

2021 International Journal of Environmental & Analytical Chemistry 28 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

Plastics of the Future? An Interdisciplinary Review on Biobased and Biodegradable Polymers: Progress in Chemistry, Societal Views, and Environmental Implications

This review examines biodegradable and biobased plastics as alternatives to conventional plastics, assessing their environmental impact five years after the authors' previous analysis. While these newer plastics show promise in reducing persistent waste, they raise their own concerns, including the potential to generate microplastics and affect soil health under certain conditions. The authors argue that a full life-cycle approach -- from raw materials to disposal -- is essential for these alternatives to truly help.

2025 Angewandte Chemie International Edition 33 citations
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

Potential use of plant leaves and sheath as food packaging materials in tackling plastic pollution: A Review

This review examines research into using plant leaves and sheaths as biodegradable food packaging materials to reduce plastic pollution. Researchers found that considerable progress has been made in demonstrating the feasibility of plant-based packaging, though large-scale production and commercial application remain challenging. The study suggests that plant-derived packaging materials hold significant economic potential as environmentally friendly alternatives to single-use plastics.

2024 Ceylon Journal of Science 18 citations
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

Emerging Technologies for Converting Mixed Plastic Waste into Biodegradable Polymers

Scientists are developing new ways to turn mixed plastic waste (like food containers and shopping bags) into biodegradable materials that naturally break down instead of polluting the environment. This research review summarizes promising techniques that could help reduce the microplastics that end up in our food and water. If these methods can be made affordable and used widely, they could significantly cut plastic pollution and the health risks it poses to humans.

2026 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
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

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

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

The future of plastic

Researchers examine whether biodegradable polymers can solve plastic's environmental crisis, noting that while plastic is enormously useful, society's heavy reliance on it has created a global pollution problem that biodegradable alternatives alone are unlikely to fully resolve.

2018 Nature Communications 108 citations
Article Tier 2

A progress update on the biological effects of biodegradable microplastics on soil and ocean environment: A perfect substitute or new threat?

This review examines whether biodegradable plastics, often marketed as eco-friendly alternatives, actually break down safely in the environment. The evidence shows that biodegradable plastics often fragment into microplastics rather than fully decomposing, and these biodegradable microplastics can harm soil organisms, marine life, and disrupt nutrient cycles. The findings suggest that simply switching to biodegradable plastics may not solve the microplastic pollution problem and could introduce new environmental risks.

2024 Environmental Research 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Bioplastics for a circular economy

Researchers reviewed the role of bioplastics — made from bio-based or biodegradable polymers — in circular economy systems, finding that while they can lower carbon footprints and enable end-of-life biodegradation, trade-offs including land competition, unclear recycling compatibility, and higher costs limit their scalable sustainable impact.

2022 Nature Reviews Materials 1843 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

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

Discussion about suitable applications for biodegradable plastics regarding their sources, uses and end of life

Researchers critically evaluated the scientific basis for biodegradable plastics as a solution to plastic pollution, concluding that no plastic biodegrades universally across all ecosystems, that treating the environment as a waste treatment system is unacceptable, and that compostable plastics require dedicated collection infrastructure to deliver on their environmental promise.

2022 Waste Management 70 citations