Bioplastics Production

What are bioplastics?

Compostable plastics
-orAny plastics-made from
organisms (or organism byproducts)

Mixture of Acids that

could be made into
bioplastics

Why Bioplastic?
Plastics are predominantly made from crude oil

Renewable resources are becoming a more viable and

promising alternative for the plastics industry
When plastics made from petroleum are burned, they
release the carbon dioxide contained in the petroleum into
the atmosphere, leading to global warming.
The use of bioplastics offers significant advantages not only
in an ecological sense but also in an economical sense.

 Bioplastics are a form of plastics derived from plant

sources such as sweet potatoes, sugarcane, soy bean
oil and corn starch.
Bioplastics are environmentally friendly because,
compared with traditional plastics, their production
results in the emission of less carbon dioxide, which
is thought to cause global warming.

They are also biodegradable, meaning that the

material returns to its natural state when buried in the
ground.

Polystyrene: Coffee cups, Fast-food

Polyethylene:
HDPE: Milk containers
LDPE: Plastic bags, Packaging

Polyvinyl chloride: Piping, Meat wrap

Polyethylene terephthalate: Soda bottles

 Oil use: 100 billion

pounds of plastics are
produced in North
America annually
Only 3% of these plastics
are recycled

Importance
2003- North America
107 billion pounds of
synthetic plastics
produced from petroleum
Take >50 years to degrade
Improper disposal and
failure to recycle
overflowing landfills

Making Bioplastics

Bioplastics Production
Enzymes are used to break starch in the plants down into
glucose, which is fermented and made into lactic acid.

This lactic acid is polymerized and converted into a plastic

called polylactic acid, which can be used in the
manufacture of products after being heated and shaped.
If something made of bioplastic is buried in the ground,
microorganisms will break it down into carbon dioxide and
water.
Starch Glucose Lactic acid Poly lactic acid (PLA)

Goal of Bioplastic Production

1. To save resources by
either reducing the
production of standard
Polypropylene plastics
2. To save the
environment by
making plastics
biodegradable

Bioplastic
degradation speed

Bioplastic production:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Using Soy-based bioplastics

Using Starch-based Bioplastics
Using Bacteria to make bioplastics
Poly-3-Hydroxyalkanoate
(PHA)/Hydroxybutyrate (PHB)

Soy-based Bioplastics
One of the hottest sections
in bioplastics research
today.
Pure Soy Bioplastic has
many undesirable traits.
Mixtures of Soy with other
substances are currently
being attempted.
Soy Protein

Bacteria-based Bioplastics
Mixture of bacteria can create acids when
fermented.
The ratio of different acids is based on pH.
The bacteria are fed glucose solution and
fermented.
The acids can be used to make bioplastics

PHA/PHB

Easily biodegradable
Easily processed
Very Expensive
Methylobacterium sp V49 is PHB producer

Starch-based bioplastics
Make up about 50% of the current
bioplastic market
This is called thermo-plastical starch

Use of Bioplastic
Bioplastics are already being used in
automobile interiors and in cases for
consumer electronics.
Toyota Motor Corp. became the first
automaker in the world to use bioplastics in
the manufacture of auto parts.

Used in Automobile
Toyota Motor is building a plant to undertake test
production of bioplastic at a factory in Japan, with
production due to begin in August 2004.
The company plans to produce 1,000 tons of
bioplastic annually, which will be used not just in car
parts but in many other plastic products as well.
Toyota also plans to use bioplastics in the
construction of the exhibition pavilions at the 2005
World Exposition, Aichi, Japan, so that no
construction waste is generated when the pavilions
are dismantled at the end of the event.

Used in Electronic Devices

Mitsubishi Plastics has already succeeded in raising
the heat-resistance and strength of polylactic acid by
combining it with other biodegradable plastics and
filler, and the result was used to make the plastic
casing of a new version of Sony Corp.'s Walkman
Mitsubishi Plastics had previously looked at
bioplastic as something that would mainly be used in
the manufacture of casings and wrappings.

 NEC Corp., is turning its attention to kenaf, a type of

fibrous plant native to tropical areas of Africa and
Asia that is known to grow more than five meters in
just half a year.
A mixture of polylactic acid and kenaf fiber that is
20% fiber by weight allows for a plastic that is strong
enough and heat resistant enough to be used in
electronic goods.
The goal is to begin using this new plastic in real
products, such as computer cases.

Used in packaging
The use of bioplastics for shopping bags is already
very common.
After their initial use they can be reused as bags
for organic waste and then be composted.
Trays and containers for fruit, vegetables, eggs
and meat, bottles for soft drinks and dairy
products are also already widely manufactured
from bioplastics.

Used in Sanitary Products

Due to their specific characteristics, bioplastics are
used as a basis for the production of sanitary
products.
These materials are breathable and allow water vapor
to permeate, but at the same time they are waterproof.
Foils made of soft bioplastic are already used as
diaper foil, bed underlay, ladies sanitary products and
as disposable gloves.

Your food
comes from
nature..
Now so
does your
container

Applications

 Energy storage for bacteria

Physical properties of
polyethylene, polystyrene,
and synthetic polyesters
Polyhydroxyalkanoates
H
O C CH2 C
CH3
O

H
O C CH2 C
CH2
O
CH3

Polyhydroxybutyrate
(PHB)

Polyhydroxyvalerate
(PHV)

 Anaerobic
Environment
Abundant carbon
source

3-hydroxyacyl-CoA
polymerization

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs)
Produced under conditions of:
Low limiting nutrients (P, S, N, O)
Excess carbon

2 different types:

Short-chain-length
Medium-chain-length

3-5 Carbons
6-14 Carbons

~250 different bacteria have been found

to produce some form of PHAs

Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB)
Example of short-chainlength PHA
Produced in activated
sludge
Found in Alcaligenes
eutrophus
Accumulated
intracellularly as
granules (>80% cell dry
weight)

Lee et al., 1996

PHA Biosynthesis

Ojumu et al., 2004

 A carbon source (corn) is ground into a mash

and fed to PHA-forming bacteria
Glucose is extracted as the microbes ferment
the mash and store the energy as PHAs
The cells are washed and lysed

30% PHA by dry weight

The PHAs are separated by centrifuge and
washed again

Recovery of PHAs from Cells

PHA producing microorganisms stained
with Sudan black or Nile blue
Cells separated out by centrifugation or
filtration
PHA is recovered using solvents
(chloroform) to break cell wall & extract
polymer
Purification of polymer

Organisms

Nostoc muscorum

Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 Synechococcus sp. MA19

Life Cycle Assessment of PHAs from Cyanobacteria

Plastics are resistant to biodegradation accumulating at the

rate of 25 million tonnes per year. Much disposed in landfill
sites. Possibility of recycling plastics is limited and
incineration yields toxic compounds
As of Jun 2010, NatureWorks was the primary producer
of PLA (bioplastic) in the United States.
The Korean research center KAIST has announced that
they have found a way to produce PLA using bio-engineered
Escherichia coli.

Organisms
Ralstonia eutropha
Alcaligenes latus
Azotobacter vinelandii
Paracoccus denitrificans
Recombinant E.coli
Bacillus subtilis

 The biosynthesis of PHA is usually caused

by certain deficiency conditions (e.g. lack
of macro elements such as phosphorus,
nitrogen, trace elements, or lack of
oxygen) and the excess supply of carbon
sources.

Simplify Extraction
Secretion Mechanisms
1. Exploit natural secretion
mechanisms
2. Transform cell with plasmid
containing lysis gene

Challenges Facing Bioplastics

High start-up costs (3-5 x

higher than petroleum-based
plastics)
Labor intensive processing
High energy demands

In Conclusion
Bioplastics is an important and exciting new
field in biotechnology which promises to help
save the environment as well as slow the
depletion of non-renewable resources.
However, it is still a technology in its infant
phases and many tests and experiments need to be
done to see if bioplastics are actually feasible as a
replacement for the incredibly versatile
polypropylene.