Biodegradable Plastics: New Challenges and Possibilities toward Green Sustainable Development

Abstract

In the past few decades, several research studies have reported the adverse impact of conventional plastics on the environment and human health. Conventional plastics contain a mixture of known and unknown harmful materials or chemicals that are unsafe for human health and pose disposal challenges as they are not degraded easily in nature. Thus, there has been a dire need to develop and introduce bio�based and biodegradable plastics as an alternative source over conventional plastic. For manufacturing and development of bio�based and biodegradable plastics, focus on the use of raw materials and chemicals which are green and clean with respect to nature are needed; which includes proteins, carbohydrates, polysaccharides, and eco�friendly constituents with environment�friendly physicochemical properties from various natural sources. In recent year, the reports of biodegradable plastics such as poly(e�caprolactone) (PCL), poly(lactic acid) (PLA), poly(3�hydroxybutyrate) (PHB), polyethylene (Bio�PE), polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), poly(butylene succinate) (PBS), and bamboo�based materials have come into prominence rather than conventional materials for the commercial purpose. This chapter focuses on better alternatives of natural raw materials for the manufacturing and development of biodegradable plastics, which are eco�friendly in nature and safe for human use. � 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. All rights reserved.