For the first time, there is a realistic path forward for the widespread production and use of bio-based and biodegradable packaging and products, a revolution that would reduce plastic waste, help clean the environment and provide new sources of energy. The 2023 Farm Bill under consideration in Congress right now is an ideal vehicle to accelerate this process.
The dominance of single-use, non-degradable packaging has been a boon to consumer convenience and cost, but a harm to the environment. Over the past 30 years, plastic waste generation has more than tripled. The United Nations Environment Program estimates as many as five trillion plastic bags are used worldwide each year. Some 98 percent of single-use plastics are made from fossil fuels; 50 percent of all plastics produced are for single-use.
For decades, scientists have worked on developing plant-based plastic substitutes that break down when they are composted or make it to the ocean – but they have been too expensive to produce to be commercially viable.
Now, that’s changing. Consumer brands, the major users of plastics, are feeling customer pressure for change and beginning to take leadership. They’re reaching back into their supply chain and working with suppliers to produce compostable plastics that are great for the environment and cost-effective for the consumer.
These plant-based alternatives to plastic are sometimes referred to as “bioplastics” although this is a catch-all word that can mean many different products. One type -- polyhydroxyalkanoates, or PHA for short – are particularly excellent. PHAs are renewable and are produced using feedstocks such as corn, sugarcane, used cooking oil and even waste gas. In addition to being made in nature, PHAs return to nature after use or at the end of their lives, through biodegradation processes such as composting (home or industrial) or anaerobic digestion, a process that breaks down materials without oxygen. This makes them a truly circular product – there is no waste.
PHA can replace a host of single-use plastics, including cups, straws, shopping bags, golf tees, pens and cosmetics containers.
The White House is advocating for biobased products and with good reason – about 20 percent of every barrel of crude oil is used to produce non-fuel products, such as plastic. Transitioning to biobased substitutes reduces the carbon impact of fossil fuel extraction, transportation and processing. In March, the Biden Administration laid out long-term goals to advance U.S. biotechnology and biomanufacturing. One of those goals is for 90 percent of plastics to be replaced with bio-based alternatives within 20 years.
The past decade has seen a new wave of companies, both large and start-ups, racing to commercialize renewable materials such as PHA. In order to so, more than 60 companies formed GO!PHA, an organization committed to PHA advocacy and education. Many of our members, including CJ Biomaterials, Danimer, Kaneka, RWDC and Newlight, have commercialized these materials and are partnering with major retail brands, such as PepsiCo, Mars and Kimberly Clark.
With smart laws and regulations, production of biobased and biodegradable packaging materials can be integrated into daily use for consumers.
We applaud the leadership of states such as California in tackling the problem with plastic waste and driving circularity. As California embarks on its regulatory development of SB 54, we encourage legislators to ensure that ensuing regulations align with the bill’s intent-- eliminating plastic waste and improving circularity.
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At the federal level, the Farm Bill is the key. An omnibus, multiyear bill, it governs a broad swath of agricultural and food programs and will encompass $500 billion in spending. Through the Farm Bill, Congress should expand the USDA’s BioPreferred Program, established in 2002 to increase the purchase of biobased products and put more into consumers’ hands. Expanding grant funding through the Farm Bill 503 program will enable more pilot and demonstration infrastructure that can be scaled up.
Additionally, Congress can support the biomaterials industry by ensuring that this new field is represented in federal classification systems, such as the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), so that policymakers can track the growth of our industry.
One large need that must also be addressed is establishing much-needed infrastructure for processing organics, including biomaterials, such as composting and anaerobic digestion, across the country. Backyard composting is not enough. At these large facilities, PHAs and other organic waste can be recovered to make new products or composted into rich soil nutrients. Anaerobic digestion creates bio-methane, which can be captured and turned into an energy source or a useful feedstock for bioprocesses. Currently, methane is allowed to escape conventional landfills into the atmosphere, where its potential to warm the atmosphere is 28 times that of carbon dioxide.
The technology is here. Consumers want it. Companies are producing and using it. Now, it’s time for Congress to build out the necessary regulatory framework and funding. A solution to the scourge of plastics pollution is at hand.
Anindya Mukherjee is the Co-Founder and an Executive Board Member of GO!PHA.