#design #plastic #sustainability

A few weeks ago we visited the fair Muovi Plastics in Lahti, Finland. Plastic is an important material in the design of furniture, and at the fair several suppliers of biopolymers and biocomposites were present. Bio-based plastics are interesting from an environmental point of view, and we continuously monitor the branch and its developments as a part of our sustainability work.

Bio-based plastics, or bioplastics as they are often called, are derived from renewable sources, like vegetable fats and oils, corn and pea starch and microbiota. A few of these plastics are biodegradable.

The production of bioplastics is growing and presents a good environmentally friendly option to plastic made from oil and natural gas, but the production must not interfere and compete with the production of food, an inherent risk considering the resources of production. The best alternative here is when the plastic is produced with wastes from production or garbage. But the increased use of biofuels also produced from wastes affects the availability of bio-based plastics.

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