State-of-the-biobased plastics industry: Overview 2018

<p>Yash P Khanna</p>

State-of-the-biobased plastics industry: Overview 2018

Yash P Khanna

Innoplast Solutions, USA

: Expert Opin Environ Biol

Abstract

While most major corporations around the world have escalated their efforts in recent years on improving the Environmental Impact & Sustainability via several routes, some BREAK-THROUGH concepts have only lately emerged. For example, (1) CONVERTING land & forest WASTES into chemicals; the latter besides numerous uses serve as Building-Blocks for plastics and (2) REDUCING-CAPTURINGCONVERTING the harmful greenhouse gases (CO2 and CH4) into chemicals. These revolutionary concepts are expected to take environment/sustainability efforts to new heights. This presentation will begin with a review of the historic emergence of the biobased plastics industry starting with an era of “Waste Management via Biodegradation” followed by a period of very high petroleum prices and proliferation of technology pipeline to develop traditional & new DURABLE polymers, and now again through times of lower petroleum pricing / shale gas revolution. In spite of turbulent events, reasons for steady-growth of this industry forecasted to be 34Blbs/year by 2020 will be highlighted. Emphasis of the presentation will be on how the field of Polymers & Chemicals is being rejuvenated via Non-Fossil Raw-Materials that are (1) Biobased-Sustainable or (2) Air- Land-Ocean Pollutants”; thereby leading to preservation of petroleum resources, reduction of air-land-ocean pollution, and utilization of free/undesirable raw materials.