Introduction and Motivation

In light of the massive surge for environmental accountability in this day and age, one of the major sources of pollution is that of plastics. Massive amounts (need actual numbers) of plastics are dumped into landfills and can remain essentially unchanged for thousands of years (have heard it before, need to look up). There has been a great response in people recycleing much of their plastic waste, but if the plastic could simply be composted, or designed to degrade in a quick, environmentally friendly way much of the waste could be eliminated from the landfills, and the hassel of recycling would become moot. This page will therefore look at the production of biodegradable plastics, why this is not commonly implemented today, and attempt to find ways to make the process more engery or materials efficient. As well,the actual process will be evaluated to see if it is actually better for the environment in the long run. Such breakthroughs will hopefully futher drive the plastics industry to develope the processes needed to produce this plastic, and help the environment.