The Promise of Biobased and Biodegradable Polymer Materials in Paper Paperboard Products Reducing Carbon Footprint and Improving Environmental Performance

摘要

Polymer modifiers, additives, latexes, laminates, and coatings have found significant usage in paper and paperboard products. Today, they are based on petroleum/fossil feedstock and not biodegradable. Biobased and biodegradable polymer materials based on renewable carbon offers the intrinsic value proposition of a reduced carbon footprint depending on the amount of renewable carbon in the product and in harmony with the rates and time scales of natural biological carbon cycle. Biobased polymer materials must be organic and contain in whole or part biogeneic carbon (carbon from biological sources) to be classified as biobased ("bio"). Identification and quantification of biobased content is based on the radioactive C-14 signature associated with (new) bio carbon and is measured as the percent weight of bio carbon to the total organic carbon present in the product. Using experimentally determined bio (renewable) carbon content values, one can calculate this intrinsic CO_2 emissions reduction achieved (the material carbon footprint) by incorporating bio (renewable) carbon into a product. It is important that the intrinsic value gains in CO_2 emissions reduction must not be negated during the conversion and use phase (process carbon footprint), and using LCA tools one can ensure this does not happen. However, process and product improvements and end-of-life options with respect to energy use, and environmental emissions are occurring at a rapid pace. Therefore static LCA's based on old or outdated data or end-of-life scenarios are misleading and provide the wrong picture.Biodegradability in concert with disposal options like composting (compostable plastic), does offer a viable, sustainable end-of-life option to completely remove single use, short-life disposable products like packaging and consumer articles from the environmental compartment via microbial assimilation. However, not all biobased polymer materials are biodegradable, and not all biodegradable polymers are biobased. It is important to recognize that biobased (using renewable carbon) focuses on reducing the carbon footprint of a product/plastic, whereas biodegradability is an end-of-life option designed for single use short life disposable products. It is equally important to ensure complete biodegradability (complete utilization of the polymer by the microorganisms) in the selected disposal system otherwise there are serious health and environmental consequences.