Bioplastics can help address the “wicked problem” of plastic pollution, but companies and research institutions need to take a holistic approach, says Associate Professor Steven Pratt, director of The University of Queensland’s ARC Training Centre for Bioplastics and Biocomposites.
Global plastic waste more than doubled between 2000 and 2019, rising to more than 350 million tonnes, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. It is estimated that, without intervention, this waste will triple by 2060 to 1 billion tonnes. About 40% of plastic waste is from packaging.
“We are trying to make bioplastics cheaper and make sense commercially,” says Associate Professor Pratt, who has been working on bioplastics for more than two decades. Bioplastics is an umbrella term that includes plastics that are biodegradable, derived from biological sources rather than fossil fuels, or both.
Biome Technologies plc (LON:BIOM) is a growth oriented, commercially driven technology group. The Group’s primary activity is the development of its fast growing business in bioplastics. The Group comprises two divisions: Biome Bioplastics and Stanelco RF Technologies.
