Biopolymers and Bioplastics

Renewable resources and bio based polymers

The continuous decline in fossil fuel resources combined with increase in oil prices has initiated a search for alternatives that are based on renewable resources for energy production. The production organic chemical materials from the application of petroleum and carbon based chemistry has created a variety of initiatives to replace fossil sources with renewable materials. In particular, tremendous efforts are being conducted in polymer science and technology to produce macromolecular polymers from renewable resources. The utilization of vegetable biomass is gaining progress after segregation of its components and its development after chemical modification. Certain biodegradable polymers such as polyhydroxy alkanoates and polylactic acids utilize renewable feedstocks which in this case is microbial biomass. The plastic manufacturing industries utilize genetically modified strains of microbes such as bacillus subtilis or lactobacillus to improve bioplastic yield and reduce cost of production which is the major problem for bioplastic manufacturing industrial sectors.