A Review of Biodegradable Plastics: Chemistry, Applications, Properties, and Future Research Needs

Environmental concerns over waste plastics' effecton theenvironment are leading to the creation of biodegradable plastics.Biodegradable plastics may serve as a promising approach to managethe issue of environmental accumulation of plastic waste in the oceanand soil. Biodegradable plastics are the type of polymers that canbe degraded by microorganisms into small molecules (e.g., H2O, CO2, and CH4). However, there are misconceptionssurrounding biodegradable plastics. For example, the term "biodegradable"on product labeling can be misconstrued by the public to imply thatthe product will degrade under any environmental conditions. Suchmisleading information leads to consumer encouragement of excessiveconsumption of certain goods and increased littering of products labeledas "biodegradable". This review not only provides acomprehensive overview of the state-of-the-art biodegradable plasticsbut also clarifies the definitions and various terms associated withbiodegradable plastics, including oxo-degradable plastics, enzyme-mediatedplastics, and biodegradation agents. Analytical techniques and standardtest methods to evaluate the biodegradability of polymeric materialsin alignment with international standards are summarized. The reviewsummarizes the properties and industrial applications of previouslydeveloped biodegradable plastics and then discusses how biomass-derivedmonomers can create new types of biodegradable polymers by utilizingtheir unique chemical properties from oxygen-containing functionalgroups. The terminology and methodologies covered in the paper providea perspective on directions for the design of new biodegradable polymersthat possess not only advanced performance for practical applicationsbut also environmental benefits.