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Sustainable bioplastics The development of plastics from plant matter - bioplastics - holds great promise to address many of the sustainability problems and national security concerns generated by the manufacture of plastics from petroleum and other fossil fuels. Bioplastics are not, however, an automatic panacea. Modern industrial agriculture creates a host of health, environmental, and social and economic justice problems including the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the field, toxic pesticides, and destruction of family farms. Increased demand for agricultural products for energy and materials as well as food may well exacerbate the problems already posed by modern agriculture. Manufacture, use and disposal can still result in hazardous emissions, particularly if the bioplastic is mixed with petro-based chemicals. At the end of life, bioplastics pose new requirements for recycling systems. To help put bioplastics on a sustainable path, a coalition of consumer, environmental, agricultural and social justice groups with the participation of several major purchasers, are developing a set of Guidelines, linked below, for the bioplastic industry and for potential purchasers of products made from bioplastics. Key guidance documents:
Bioplastic Info - Send an email to us to be informed of updates to these Guidelines documents or to provide comments on them. Reference links:
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