Cassava as an Ideal Bioplastic

It was said in that our ocean is becoming one big “wasteland”. The affects that plastic pollution in our oceans have on our future is very simple; the animal deaths will greatly increase, ocean floors will be destroyed, the wildlife of sea animals will greatly change. In my research I found that 25 billion plastic products are not being recycled each year. If plastic is not biodegradable and its 25 billion each year, imagine how much plastic pollution will be in our oceans 10 years from now!

In conclusion, it should have been learned that the issue of plastic pollution has become ruinous. The cost of repair and the inconvenience of lifestyle changes cannot compare to the frightful future this planet is headed. At current rates, hazards are not just inflicted on Earth's oceans but individual human health and the other creatures that rightly inhabit this land. With this concern

People would say that plastic in landfills would just stay there and if we keep on using plastic the waste problem would just worsen. I think that the problem here is why do people put plastics in landfills mixed with biodegradable materials. There are ways to properly recycle plastic. This comes to my third argument for why plastic beats paper. It is better because we could change its physical shape to things we really need. Richard Stein, from the University of Massachusetts, stated that plastics could be melted and formed into different structures such as propellers for wind turbines, food containers and many more [3]. Imagine being able to reuse plastic as long as the quality of it can still be recyclable, but if it isn’t anymore, Richard Stein also suggested that plastic could be converted to energy by burning it since it is made of petroleum [3].

One extreme issue with plastic being so easily accessible is that consumers throw it away without hesitation, as is especially true with plastic bags. Plastic bags are made of one of the most flexible and flimsy types of plastic, which means that they can be broken down much easier, especially once they reach the ocean, which is where an alarming amount of our trash ends up. “Plastic doesn't biodegrade in any meaningful timeframe, but it photodegrades” which means that “ultraviolet rays from the sun break the polymer chains of hydrocarbon molecules into smaller pieces and what you end up with is small fragments...” (Wilson) of plastic floating all over our oceans, and those tiny fragments will truly

Song JH, (2009) states that “Many different materials are used for packaging including metals, glass, wood, paper or pulp, plastics or combinations of more than one material as composites” (p 364). What this means is that most of the packaging materials we use for packaging contain products that are very hard to de compose and end up in landfills. In order to achieve bio degradable packaging we should consider bioplastic polymers which “are generally still much higher than that of their traditional plastic counterparts” (364). Bioplastic polymers cost much more than regular polymers we use but, if we can help our planet and company become more environmental friendly, we should take that step and use bioplastic polymers for our

Plastic has become a staple, and the use of plastic products is abundant in everyday life even if it is not apparent. The production and use of plastics has increased dramatically over the last sixty years, and a vast majority of plastic being produced is not recovered after it is used. It is clear that much of what we have today would not be possible without plastics, but the fact that it is not biodegradable and toxic creates a product that just takes up a vast amount of space and poisons animals. The overflow of plastic eventually makes its way into the ocean and is affecting marine life at an alarming rate. Plastic debris pollutes oceans all over the world as it breaks down into smaller pieces and are ingested by a large range of species. Animals exposed eat the plastic products and it causes health problems throughout the marine ecosystem. Some humans rely on these animals for food without knowing that they have been exposed to toxic products. The smallest organisms or exposure to chemicals can wreak havoc on the human body causing serious illness. It is clear that much of what we have today would not be possible without plastics, but the fact that plastic is not biodegradable and toxic creates a product that takes up a vast amount of space and poisons animals. Plastics contain chemicals that can interfere with the bodies natural functions and can cause adverse health issues if left untreated. Plastic pollution is rampant all over the globe exposing everyone

Plastics of the 20th century should consider the health of the environment. Over the past 153 years http://edition.cnn.com/2007/TECH/11/14/fsummit.climate.plasticbags/ of producing plastics there is an evident impact of the environment. The Earth’s ocean has 5.25 trillion pieces, which is equivalent to 269,000 tons floating on the surface. Some of plastic is as small as 1cm2; this makes this every difficult to reverse the already existing impact of humans. This large scale disaster also affects the wildlife. 100,000 marine animals and 1 million birds have to suffer the consequence of plastic pollution every year. Globally a million single-use plastic bags are used every minute, this number is also increasing. http://oceancrusaders.org/plastic-crusades/plastic-statistics/

North, E. J., & Halden, R. U. (2013). Plastics and environmental health: the road ahead. Retrieved February 10, 2016, from

By the year 2050 plastic bottles will outnumber fish in the ocean. Last year a study by the National Academy of Sciences showed that there are over five trillion pieces of plastic currently littering the ocean. Many people believe that throwing away plastic would have negligible impact on humans and animals, this is untrue. Thousands of birds, turtle, seals, fish, and other marine animals die every after entangling themselves in or consuming the tons of plastic currently in the ocean. Plastic is such a durable material that according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, every single bit of plastic ever made still exists. The ocean has turned into our own personal landfill, affecting millions of lives. Organizations such as

Polyethylene is used numerous applications like plastic bag, water bottle and takeaway containers. This plastic eating bacteria can biodegrade the plastic at 0.13mg a day. It is estimated that it might take 100 to 400 years to degrade the polyethylene in landfills9. It is found that the enzymes in the worms can digest this chemical and it is safe the environment. Since plastic takes a long time to decompose, its carbon footprint involves the creating new landfills and incinerations. Both can be harmful to the environment8. This engineering solutions can be used to convert and biodegrade the plastic in a safe way.

The website divides the information into three main sections; environment, economy, and health. 8 million tons of plastic are dumped into the ocean and then accumulate in five gyres. As of 2014, there are at least 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic. A third of that is in the Great Pacific Garbage patch. All that plastic causes a huge environmental problem. One-hundred thousand marine mammals and 1 million sea birds die each year because of the pollution. Not only does plastic pollution have a major impact on the environment but it also impacts the economy. Such a large impact in fact that it causes $3 billion of damage. US West Coast spends $500 million for clean up. If harming the environment and the economy isn't enough, human health is significantly damaged. PCBs, DDTs, and other toxic chemicals in the plastics are increases a million times. Once in the food chain, the concentrations increase. Cancer, malformation and impaired reproductive abilities are all health effects linked to plastic

more sustainable, manufacturers should consider making more Bioplastics. This is plastic that is biodegradable and safer for the environment because it is able to be broken down by bacteria. This is more sustainable for the environment because the resources used to make the plastic are going back into the earth.

In all its glory plastic can leave a harmful imprint on the environment and even human health. “One of the most ubiquitous and long-lasting recent changes to the surface of our planet is the accumulation and fragmentation of plastics,” (Knoblauch, 2009). At first, plastic was used to help in the military and WWII but after just a few years of its creation, plastic production increased by over 3000% (Sun, 2013). Chemicals added to the plastic are absorbed by humans and it can affect hormones or cause other potential health

There are many forms of pollution that occur from oil spills, radioactive wastes, urban air pollution, the release of greenhouse gases, or agricultural pollution, and one of the most preventable, plastic pollution. Plastic pollution is an accumulation in the environment of man-made plastic products to the point that they become problematic and harmful to wildlife, wildlife habitats, or human populations. This accumulation is due to the excessive use of plastics, which has become a worldwide issue, and is accountable for approximately 10% of discarded waste. It has been calculated that 275 million metric tons (MT) of plastic waste was produced in 192 coastal countries in 2010, with as much as 12.7 million MT entering the ocean (Jambeck et al., 2015). Plastic pollution can be classified based on the overall size and thickness, as microdebris (2 µm), mesodebris (1-5 mm), or macrodebris (>20 mm). Plastic can be very harmful to the land, waterways, and the ocean due to its extremely slow biodegrading process, which can exceed hundreds of years. Plastic debris can also be harmful to marine life causing, entanglement, ingestion of plastic waste, and exposure to the chemicals within plastics, which ultimately affect humans as well.

With the combination of polymers that don’t biodegrade and mass overproduction, companies are harming the environment in severe ways. Plastic, a material seen everywhere, is a polymer made from oil. It is mass produced to make everything from shampoo bottles to automobiles and does not biodegrade. When it is eventually thrown out, the waste usually finds it way into the ocean, where it is either buried under sediment or eaten by marine life (Weisman 287-295). Creating a material that will ultimately kill marine life will undoubtedly wreak havoc on the