Bioplastics: keep an eye out when buying bags!
Inhalte
- Bioplastik-Kunststoff aus nachwachsenden Rohstoffen
- Kernaussage der DINplus Bioabfall-Beutel Zertifizierung
- Von Algen bis Zuckerrohr: Rohstoffe für Biokunststoff
- Bioplastik aus Mais
- Darum ist Bioplastik eine gute Sache
- Umweltschonende Entsorgung des Bioplastik
- Mogelpackung Bioplastik? Argumente für nachhaltigere Kunststoffe
- Laborstudien sollen zeigen, dass 75% der untersuchten Biokunststoffe Zellgifte enthalten
- Anbaufläschen für biobasierte Rohstoffe gehen für den Lebensmittelanbau verloren und werden oft nicht nachhaltig bewirtschaftet
- Biokunststoffe bergen eine hohe Gefahr von Greenwashing, weil nicht jedes Bioplastik biologisch abbaubar ist.
- Auf das Siegel achten: So erkennst du gutes Bioplastik
- Die wichtigsten Zertifikate für nachhaltige Biokunststoffe
- Biokunststoff - eine echte Alternative für den Alltag
Bioplastics: keep an eye out when buying bags!
- 23. January 2025
- Autor: Janine Friebel
- Lesezeit: 9 Minuten
A real alternative to conventional plastic: bioplastics are already a great help in getting the waste problem under control. With bin liners in particular, but also other products made from bioplastics, you can easily make your everyday life more sustainable. Ideally, bioplastics are made entirely from renewable raw materials and therefore have a better eco-balance than conventional plastic, which is made from petroleum. It is important to keep a watchful eye when selecting products: Only bioplastic products that carry seals such as Keimling or the DINPlus certificate are actually environmentally friendly. We show you what is important when it comes to bioplastics!
Bioplastics - plastic made from renewable raw materials
To understand the potential of bioplastics, it is important to know: What actually is bioplastic? In fact, there is no uniform, standardised definition of which materials can be called bioplastics and which cannot.
Bioplastics are plastics that
- are made from renewable raw materials
- and/or are biodegradable
- or consist of a mixture of petroleum and renewable raw materials.
It should therefore be noted: Not all bioplastics are made exclusively from renewable raw materials; composite plastics that are partly made from crude oil can also be labelled as bioplastics. This makes it all the more important to pay attention to the labelling of the raw materials used and the seals of approval awarded.
Difference between conventional plastic and bioplastic
Conventional plastic is made from petroleum and is not biodegradable. Bioplastics, on the other hand, are made entirely or partially from renewable raw materials and can be biodegradable under certain circumstances.
This means that products made from bioplastics save between 20 and 80 per cent of the emissions that would otherwise be required for the production of conventional plastic.
Key message of the DINplus biowaste bag certification
As the term bioplastic is not protected, there are different materials that are all summarised under the category ‘bioplastics’. The differences are crucial, because: entscheidend, denn:
Not all biodegradable plastics are biobased! At the same time, not all bioplastics are also biodegradable.
Bioplastics can be categorised into three groups with different properties. To help you quickly recognise which products are a truly sustainable, low-emission alternative, we have compiled a list of the most important materials.
What does biodegradable mean?
A plastic is considered biodegradable if it can be decomposed by microorganisms (such as bacteria or fungi) with and without oxygen into waste products such as carbon dioxide (CO2), water, salts and biomass. It is irrelevant how long the decomposition process lasts.
The definition of biodegradability therefore differs significantly from compostability. We explain where the difference lies and what this means for you in our accompanying article ‘Biodegradable, compostable, biobased, recyclable – meaning and difference’.
From algae to sugar cane: raw materials for bioplastics
Bio-based plastics can be produced from various plants. Almost all of these renewable raw materials are characterised by the fact that they contain a high proportion of starch, i.e. polysaccharides. These are decisive for the structural strength of the bioplastic.
You will find by now:
- Bioplastics from maize
- Bioplastics from sugar cane
- Bioplastics from wheat
- Bioplastics from potatoes
- Bioplastics from algae
- Bioplastics made from bamboo
- Bioplastics made from wood
Bioplastics from maize
There is now a wide range of products made from bioplastics. You will encounter many of them in your everyday life. These include
- Disposable and reusable crockery
- Waste bags, such as our BIOvative organic waste bags
- Food packaging in supermarkets or the catering trade
But bioplastics are also used in larger contexts. For example, mulch films made from bioplastics are used in lettuce and vegetable cultivation. These have the advantage that they do not have to be disposed of, but are simply biodegradable.
Why bioplastics are a good thing
Did you know that a conventional plastic bottle takes up to 450 years to completely decompose? Even with a high life expectancy, it would take just under 5.5 human lifetimes for the plastic bottle to completely disappear from the face of the earth. And even then, we can assume that the plastic will not be completely dissolved, but will continue to be washed through the soil and into our waters in the form of microplastics.
We already have a major problem with floating islands of rubbish and microplastics, which can even be detected in breast milk. Fortunately, this is why bioplastics are becoming increasingly popular as a sustainable alternative.
Advantages of bioplastics
- Bioplastics can be made from plants.
- Renewable raw materials save crude oil.
- Bioplastics can be climate-neutral (depending on their composition) because only the CO2 that the plant has previously absorbed is released during recycling.
- The bioplastics PHA, PBAT and PCL decompose in the soil within 7 to 12 months.
- The use of organic waste bags made from bioplastics, for example, ensures that less conventional plastic ends up in organic waste.
- Bioplastic organic waste bags increase the amount of organic waste collected because, unlike paper, they are tear-resistant and waterproof.
- Biodegradable bioplastics reduce the amount of waste that has to be sent to landfill.
The classic recycling cycle for conventional plastic is as follows:
- Collection of the plastic via appropriate recycling collections, often known as the ‘yellow bag’ or ‘yellow bin’.
- Sorting of the corresponding plastics
- Washing of the plastic waste
- Melting down the plastic
- Production of so-called recyclates, which in turn are used to manufacture new products
However, this cycle represents a best-case scenario that does not occur so frequently. Many plastic products cannot be recycled due to their material. This often applies to plastic tableware, yoghurt pots or food packaging. These are often made of polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate or polyethylene with a particularly high density. These products are usually too thin or too light to be recycled, so they are consequently thermally utilised with other residual waste – i.e. incinerated. This releases toxic substances and microplastics into the atmosphere. However, to the extent that plastic products dominate our everyday lives, they cannot be incinerated at all – the result is the large islands of rubbish that we keep seeing in the news.
Environmentally friendly disposal of bioplastics
Bioplastics also have a few advantages over conventional plastics when it comes to disposal. Ideally, certified bioplastic products, such as BIOvative’s biobags, can be disposed of in the organic waste bin and then composted in the recycling plant. Bioplastic products labelled with the Keimling or DINPlus certificate are completely compostable within six to 12 weeks. This means that there is no waste left that needs to be landfilled or incinerated.
But even the bioplastics that are not compostable can be recycled in an environmentally friendly way, unlike many conventional plastics. The prerequisite for this:
If bioplastics, such as bio-based polypropylene or PET, have the same chemical structure as petroleum-based plastics, they can be disposed of and recycled in the recycling bin.
The only problem with recycling bioplastics, however, is the technology used in many recycling plants. These are often unable to keep up with the state of the art technology on which bioplastics are based. The result: they do not recognise the difference between bioplastics and conventional plastics. As a result, bioplastics are also sorted out in the plants and disposed of via the incineration plants instead of being recycled.
In terms of the CO2 balance, however, the incineration of bioplastics is still more sustainable than the disposal of conventional plastic. This is because bioplastics are made from renewable raw materials instead of petroleum. Secondly, when bioplastics are incinerated, only as much CO2 is released as the plant from which the plastic was produced had initially stored.
In addition, the energy released during waste incineration is now being used to generate electricity in many places. In many respects, bioplastics are therefore helping us to become independent of fossil fuels.
Deceptive packaging bioplastics? Arguments in favour of more sustainable plastics
In the media discourse, bioplastics are repeatedly criticised because some companies are greenwashing with labels such as ‘climate neutral’ instead of actually making their production sustainable. Unfortunately, the bad reputation that bioplastics enjoy as a result also colours companies and plastics that really contribute to environmental protection. In the following, we have taken up the most important arguments and set them against facts on the subject of bioplastics.
Laboratory studies are said to show that 75% of the bioplastics analysed contain cytotoxins.
There are indeed studies that come to such a conclusion. However, the most important information is concealed in most media reports: This is because the people behind the studies admit that it is impossible to make such generalised statements about most products. This is because the chemical structure of the bioplastic is always individual, depending on the product. This means that even if they are made from the same bioplastic, many products do not contain the relevant cytotoxins due to their structure.
This is why certificates such as the Keimling or the DINPlus certificate are so important. As part of the testing process, individual products are always certified, never the entire product range of a company. All products that have been awarded the relevant certificates are therefore free from cytotoxins.
Cultivation areas for bio-based raw materials are lost to food cultivation and are often not managed sustainably.
This statement cannot be applied across the board to all bioplastics. In the case of bioplastics made from algae, the loss of arable land is practically non-existent. With maize, sugar cane or wheat, for example, the situation is quite complex. Producers have a responsibility here to obtain their raw materials from genuinely sustainable sources and to avoid monoculture cultivation, for example.
However, the loss of arable land for food is not a problem that should only be considered for bioplastics. In Germany, for example, a lot of land is used to grow maize that is not intended for human consumption but is planted exclusively for combustion in biogas plants. If these maize plants were first used for the production of bioplastics before being incinerated, the life cycle of the plant would be much longer and cultivation would be more sustainable than is currently the case.
Bioplastics harbour a high risk of greenwashing because not all bioplastics are biodegradable.
It is true that the word ‘organic’ and terms such as ‘biodegradable’ and ‘compostable’ are not protected and their use does not automatically mean that a product is sustainable. This is why the certification of products made from bioplastics is so important! When choosing your everyday items, check whether they have been labelled with the Keimling, DINPlus or OK Compost seal. Then you can be sure that it is a truly sustainable bioplastic.
Look for the seal: How to recognise good bioplastics
You may have already realised from the previous text that it is also important to make an informed decision about bioplastics if you want to make your everyday life more sustainable and protect the environment.
Not everything labelled biodegradable/compostable/bio-based is actually good for the environment. Although some of the terms are defined in DIN standards, they are not protected. This means that companies can use them incorrectly. This practice of advertising with the name ‘organic’ and labels such as ‘biodegradable’, even though the promise is not kept, is known as greenwashing. There are still many black sheep, especially in the bioplastics sector, who give the material as such a bad reputation.
The most important certificates for sustainable bioplastics
Various certificates are a great help in ensuring that you only use products that can fulfil their environmental promise. These show you beyond doubt whether a product is actually low-emission and biodegradable. We have listed the most important ones for you here. By clicking on the name of the certificate, you will be forwarded directly to the corresponding information article.
- the Keimling
- the DINPlus certificate
- OK Compost Home
- OK Compost Industial
- Climate Partner
With products that have been awarded the above seals, you are safe from greenwashing and can be sure that you are working with truly sustainable bioplastics.
Bioplastics - a real alternative for everyday life
If you make sure that you only use certified products made from bioplastics, bioplastics can be a real, sustainable alternative to conventional plastic. The biowaste bags from BIOvative, for example, are a good way to keep your organic waste bin clean – unlike paper, they do not tear, keep the bin dry and thus prevent maggots in the organic waste bin in summer, for example. Our biowaste bags made from bioplastics have been awarded the Keimling, DINPlus and both OK Compost seals – guaranteeing that they are fully compostable.
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Janine Friebel
