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Biodegradable plastics from renewable sources

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Abstract

Plastic waste disposal is a huge ecotechnological problem and one of the approaches to solving this problem is the development of biodegradable plastics. This review summarizes data on their use, biodegradability, commercial reliability and production from renewable resources. Some commercially successful biodegradable plastics are based on chemical synthesis (i.e. polyglycolic acid, polylactic acid, polycaprolactone, and polyvinyl alcohol). Others are products of microbial fermentations (i.e. polyesters and neutral polysaccharides) or are prepared from chemically modified natural products (e.g., starch, cellulose, chitin or soy protein).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Microbiology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, 142 20, Prague, Czechia

    M. Flieger, M. Kantorová, A. Prell, T. Řezanka & J. Votruba

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  1. M. Flieger
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  2. M. Kantorová
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  3. A. Prell
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The research was supported by grant 525/00/1283 of theGrant Agency of the Czech Republic and byInstitutional Research Concept AV 0Z 502 0903.

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Flieger, M., Kantorová, M., Prell, A. et al. Biodegradable plastics from renewable sources. Folia Microbiol 48, 27–44 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02931273

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