Bioplastic production in terms of life cycle assessment: A state-of-the-art review

Sameh Samir Ali; Esraa A Abdelkarim; Tamer Elsamahy; Rania Al-Tohamy; Fanghua Li; Michael Kornaros; Antonio Zuorro; Daochen Zhu; Jianzhong Sun

doi:10.1016/j.ese.2023.100254

Bioplastic production in terms of life cycle assessment: A state-of-the-art review

Environ Sci Ecotechnol. 2023 Feb 19:15:100254. doi: 10.1016/j.ese.2023.100254. eCollection 2023 Jul.

Authors

Sameh Samir Ali^{1

2}, Esraa A Abdelkarim¹, Tamer Elsamahy¹, Rania Al-Tohamy¹, Fanghua Li³, Michael Kornaros⁴, Antonio Zuorro⁵, Daochen Zhu¹, Jianzhong Sun¹

Affiliations

¹ Biofuels Institute, School of the Environment and Safety Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013, PR China.
² Botany Department, Faculty of Science, Tanta University, Tanta, 31527, Egypt.
³ State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, 150090, China.
⁴ Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering & Environmental Technology (LBEET), Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Patras, 26504, Patras, Greece.
⁵ Department of Chemical Engineering, Materials and Environment, Sapienza University, 00184, Rome, Italy.

Abstract

The current transition to sustainability and the circular economy can be viewed as a socio-technical response to environmental impacts and the need to enhance the overall performance of the linear production and consumption paradigm. The concept of biowaste refineries as a feasible alternative to petroleum refineries has gained popularity. Biowaste has become an important raw material source for developing bioproducts and biofuels. Therefore, effective environmental biowaste management systems for the production of bioproducts and biofuels are crucial and can be employed as pillars of a circular economy. Bioplastics, typically plastics manufactured from bio-based polymers, stand to contribute to more sustainable commercial plastic life cycles as part of a circular economy in which virgin polymers are made from renewable or recycled raw materials. Various frameworks and strategies are utilized to model and illustrate additional patterns in fossil fuel and bioplastic feedstock prices for various governments' long-term policies. This review paper highlights the harmful impacts of fossil-based plastic on the environment and human health, as well as the mass need for eco-friendly alternatives such as biodegradable bioplastics. Utilizing new types of bioplastics derived from renewable resources (e.g., biowastes, agricultural wastes, or microalgae) and choosing the appropriate end-of-life option (e.g., anaerobic digestion) may be the right direction to ensure the sustainability of bioplastic production. Clear regulation and financial incentives are still required to scale from niche polymers to large-scale bioplastic market applications with a truly sustainable impact.

Keywords: Bioeconomy; Biofuel; Bioplastic; Biowaste; Life cycle assessment.

Publication types

Review