Plastic pollution is one of the major environmental issues faced by the current century. In essence, its non-biodegradability is the reason for instigating paramount concerns and research into this specific area. One of the ideas that is being heavily investigated is the production of “bioplastics”; basically, producing plastic from renewable biomass sources, so as to bring out an eco-friendly polymer. Sources of bioplastics range from vegetable oils and fats, recycled food waste, microorganisms, sugar derivatives etc. Currently, terrestrial crops such as potatoes and corn are also a major source of bioplastics. However, the issue with using above mentioned crops is that it interferes with food supply for human consumption, making it non-viable in the long term. Second issue arises from the fact that it is quite hard to extract polymers from plants for the synthesis of bioplastics due to the presence of layered cell walls.
This is where microalgae comes into play. These unicellular organisms are invisible to the naked eye; examples include phytoplankton which are typically found in marine and freshwater systems. Several methods can be used to produce bioplastics including the direct use of biomass algae, genetic engineering of algal strains to produce bioplastics, blending with other materials etc. Components present in algae that aid in the production are starch, cellulose, PHA, protein based polymers etc. The potential benefits of using algae as a source is that, unlike plants, it does not compete with food supply for human consumption. It has short harvesting time and is tolerant to harsh environments, hence can be grown even in non-arable lands. Another fascinating benefit is that, during biomass production, it also absorbs carbon-di-oxide, alleviating greenhouse effects! Furthermore, plastic derived from algae have also been valued for the fact that it does not compromise on plastic quality, unlike plastics derived from food crops, such as corn and cassava which face issues such as poor water resistance and mechanical properties.
Therefore, all in all, algae seems to be a very favorable choice for the production of bioplastics, however, let’s not overstate its benefits, since this area has not yet been heavily researched.
For further reading, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666498420300570
Divya K
The Carbon Newsprint 5/21/2021
Comments