Waste Bioplastics in Sustainable Development

Dear Colleagues,

The excessive use of plastics, their long half-life, and the improper management of plastics waste have caused their leakage in almost all natural environments. In addition, most plastics are produced using oil, increasing the carbon footprint of these materials. In this context, bioplastics have emerged as potential substitutes for fossil plastics since they are defined as biodegradable and/or bio-based materials. Bioplastics are currently used in food packaging applications and the production of single-use items, as well as in the agricultural, medical, and industrial sectors, and their market is expected to grow rapidly in the coming years.Therefore, the stream of bioplastics waste is expected to increase. Bioplastics are usually collected with biowaste and treated through composting, leading to their degradation and avoiding their accumulation into the environment. Nevertheless, circular economy principles establish that prior to disposal, other strategies should be used to treat wastes (i.e., recovery of energy and materials).

In this context, this Special Issue aims to gain knowledge through original research and scientific evidence on the potential of waste bioplastics in sustainable development. The following research topics are welcome:     

• Waste bioplastics degradation in industrial environments (composting, anaerobic digestion);
• Waste-to-energy strategies for energy recovery of waste bioplastics (i.e., anaerobic digestion, incineration, pyrolysis, etc.);
• Recovery of materials from waste bioplastics (e.g., mechanical recycling, recovery of molecules);
• Sustainability of bioplastics under different waste management scenarios;  
• Impact of growing concentration of waste bioplastics on waste management systems; 
• New biopolymers and bioplastics eco-design for increased recovery;  
• Valorization of waste streams for biopolymers production;
• Environmental fate of plastics/bioplastics after their leakage into the environment;  
• Application of bioplastics for conventional polymers substitution;
• Microplastics/microbioplastics accumulation in the environment and their potential toxicity. 

Additionally, review articles describing the state of the art and the potential development of research on these topics will be welcome. Researchers from academia and industry are invited to submit their research on the above, and other, topics of relevance to waste bioplastics management.

Dr. Mirko Cucina
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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• circular economy
• waste management
• recycling
• bioplastics
• biopolymer
• bioplastics degradation
• resource recovery
• energy recovery
• life cycle assessment