Bioplastics have huge potential but infrastructure needs to catch up

This content item was originally published on www.cosmeticsdesign.com, a William Reed online publication.

Bio-based plastic resins are beginning to make their mark on the world of packaging; but, although significant savings are being made on resource use, much still needs to be done to improve end-of-life options.

Many of the new materials, including Ingeo and Mirel from Natureworks and Telles respectively, can be composted in either a home or industrial facility which could divert the materials from landfills.

However, industrial composting facilities that accept plastic are few and far between and infrastructure to collect and sort waste is still in its infancy.

Although, theoretically reusing the bio-based resins is possible, in practice this too suffers from a lack of infrastructure to separate it out from the rest of the waste stream.