History of bioplastics

From Green Plastics

The use of natural polymers is not entirely a new idea. In one form or another, green plastics have been around for a long time.

Early History

Natural resins-like amber, shellac, and gutta percha-have been mentioned throughout history, including during Roman times and the Middle Ages. Native Americans were developing and refining techniques for making ladles and spoons from animal horns long before there was any European contact. In Europe, molded horn jewelry and snuff boxes were popular in the eighteenth century.

The 1800's

Significant commercialization of bioplastics only began in the middle of the nineteenth century... The American inventor, John Wesley Hyatt, Jr., was looking for a substitute for ivory in the manufacture of billiard balls, and in 1869 patented a cellulose derivative for coating non-ivory billiard balls. That attempt, however, was affected by the coating's flammability; balls were occasionally ignited when lit cigars accidentally came into contact with them. Hyatt continued working on the project and soon developed celluloid, the first widely used plastic, now most widely known for its use in photographic and movie film.

The 1900's

The history of plastics changed dramatically in the early 1900s, as petroleum emerged as a source of fuel and of chemicals. The early bioplastics, such as PLA which was discovered around 1890, were simply displaced by plastics made from synthetic polymers. World War II brought on a large increase in plastics production, a growth which continues to this day.

The 1920's

In the 1920s Henry Ford experimented with using soybeans in the manufacture of automobiles. Ford was partly motivated by a desire to find non-food applications for agricultural surpluses, which existed then as they do now. Soy plastics were used for an increasing number of automobile parts, like steering wheels, interior trim, and dashboard panels. Finally Ford gave the go-ahead to produce a complete prototype "plastic car." Ford, a master at generating publicity, exhibited the prototype with great fanfare in 1941, but by the end of the year was no longer publicizing the "plastic car," probably for a variety of reasons. World War II played a role: armament work took precedent over almost everything else, and steel shortages limited all non-defense production. Today plastic automobile parts are common, but the use of plastics made from renewable raw materials got side-tracked.

The 1960's

One well established bioplastic that has survived the growth of the synthetic plastics industry is cellophane, a sheet material derived from cellulose. Although production peaked in the 1960s it is still used in packaging for candy, cigarettes, and other articles.

The 2000's and Beyond

Demand for materials like plastics is continually growing and will not be abated. Today, the plastics industry is an important component of our economy: The U.S. plastics industry includes over 20,000 facilities that produce or distribute materials or products, employ over 1.5 million workers, and ship over $300 billion in products each year.

The magnitude of the plastics industry, however, is itself a cause for concern. The pressures of increasing waste and diminishing resources have lead many to to try to re-discover natural polymers and put them to use as materials for manufacture and industry. As a result, there is increasing interest in the promise of a new generation of green plastics.

References

	This article contains material that has been adapted from the Green Plastics book, copyright © 2002 Princeton University Press, with permission from the author.