Are Plant-Derived Plastics Beneficial To The Environment Or Not?

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In the goal of reducing their carbon footprint and contributing to eco-friendliness, plastic manufacturers are turning to more environmentally friendly options. One such example is Coca Cola, which uses resins derived from sugarcane in its PET bottles. However, are these really beneficial to the environment?

In an editorial, Scientific American’s David Biello reports on Coke’s use of a 30% mix of plant-derived plastics in their packaging. This PET bottle has debuted in 2009 and is in use in many markets across the globe.

At this time, softdrink manufacturers are limited in their choice of materials, because most plant-based plastics will leak carbon and even liquid through the material, which makes it unusable for sodas. Other food companies, such as PepsiCo, are also using plant-based materials for packaging.

Still, there are questions whether sourcing plastic resins from plant material is wise. While harvesting raw material from the sugar cane is efficient in itself, increased demand for bio-plastics will crowd out precious farmland meant for other food commodities. In the long run, though, manufacturers plan to use by-products of other agricultural products, so that nothing is wasted, and food crops can still be harvested for food.

Coca Cola estimates that their use of bio-plastics in PET bottles has saved 70,000 barrels of oil since they started using plant-derived plastics.

Image source: flickr