BIO-BASED PLASTICS | INNOVATION


Bio-based plastics combat recycling concerns


Bio-based plastics, such as PLA and PHA, are able to be recycled in mechanical recycling systems or returned to their monomers by chemical recycling. Jennifer Markarian finds out more


Bio-based polymers are often associated with composting, but “bio-based” actually refers to the carbon source used to make the polymer, not to its biodegradability. Some bio-based plastics, such as polyethylene polymerized using plant-based ethylene, are the same as the equivalent plastic polymerized from fossil fuel-based monomers. These “drop-in” bio-based plastics are recyclable in the same manner as their conventional equivalents but are not typically compostable. Other bio-based polymers, such as bio-based polyesters – including polylactic acid (PLA) and polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) – are often designed to be compostable or recyclable. PLA has been used commercially for many years, in both durable and compostable applications, and in various conversion processes, such as thermoforming, moulding, extrusion, and 3D-printing. PLA is considered to be industrially compostable,


www.plasticsrecyclingworld.com


mechanically recyclable, and also suitable for chemical recycling, because it can be hydrolyzed back to its monomer, lactic acid. Mechanical recycling of PLA is very similar to


that of PET from a technology perspective, but where they differ is their scale in the market, said Steve Davies, President of Davies Advisors and a 23-year veteran of the PLA industry. Both PLA and PET are clear (compared to HDPE, which is opaque) and typically enter the post-consumer packaging recycling stream as rigid, three-dimensional shapes; PET is primarily in injection stretch blow moulded (ISBM) bottles, and PLA is primarily in thermoforms today, said Davies. “Like PET, PLA can be readily sorted using commonly installed NIR [near-infrared] scanning technologies, then flaked, washed, and re-extruded into pellet form. This has all been confirmed in numerous trials, both by third parties, such as the UK’s WRAP organization, and


Main image: Recycling and industrial


composting of packaging made from bio-based plastics are end-of-use solutions to pollution


April 2026 | PLASTICS RECYCLING WORLD 11


IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK / CHAI 9


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