BIOPLASTICS: TOWARDS A GREENER EARTH


INTRODUCTION

 As of 2018, we produced approximately 311 metric tons of plastic.Its important,it plays a vital role in industries all over the world.Our very civilization is built on it and it is the backbone of  the global economy.

 PLASTICS IN 2018/19
As can be seen from the pie chart above ,our efficiency for
recycling plastics is very bad and nearly 265 metric tons of plastic ends up getting dumped in the sea.  We cannot really stop using plastic all at once , our economies depend on it, so what do we do?? It seems our continuous dependence on plastic fiber might cost us big time. So is there a solution???? Well,thanks to the advanced times we are living in,yes there is one . So let’s dive into the story of plastics and understand if there’s a way out.

TECH COMES TO THE RESCUE

We have walked incredibly far in terms of technology and there is no need to tell how much progress we have made from where we begin : as a caveman.. IF OUR PROGRESS IN TECHNOLOGY HAS PUT THIS WORLD IN A RISK THEN OUR DEVELOPMENTS IN SCIENCES ALSO  HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO SAVE US FROM WHATEVER RISKS WE ARE FACING TODAY.
 
As it turns out, there is a substitute way of developing the same fiber our industry relies so heavily on. As of now, cellulose seems to be the answer. This compound can be found in cell walls of various plant cells. A PLANT CELL WALL IS MADE UP OF APPROXIMATELY 85% OF CELLULOSE. ADD TO THAT ANOTHER COMPOUND CALLED LIGNIN AND WE HAVE A WORLD CLASS RECIPE FOR SAVING THIS WORLD.

TECHNICALITY AND MECHANISM

The structure of cellulose contains some holes in it which makes it weak.This is where lignin comes to use.lignin combines with cellulose thus filling the holes and providing a
stable, rigid and hard structure to be multiplied to give birth to a plastic fiber fully eco-friendly which in simple terms means that it can recycled with absolutely 100% efficiency. In addition to that lignin also contains aromatic compounds which lead to extra stability and hardness of these compounds.

WHAT WILL CHANGE

1)​We can again start using plastic fiber (this time obtained from cellulose) without having to worry about its implications.
2) If used the right way,it can provide boom to industries for another round of industrial revolution.
3) ​TOWARDS A GREENER AND BETTER EARTH.

CHALLENGES
 
1) Lignin requires a large amount of water and area to be produced.
2) Making this fiber cost effective.
3) To make this fiber compete with the mainstream plastic.

NOTE:

1) All the data has been taken from the report “Top 10 Emerging Technologies 2019” by THE WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM.
2) Structure of cellulose provided is just for the purpose of understanding , actual structure differs from the one in this article.
  
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 Written and Researched by Anuj Khare .
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