The impact of 50 years of unbridled plastics production, use, and disposal is now becoming well known and documented. Plastics made from non-renewable petroleum and natural gas resources threaten the environment, human health, species maintenance, and the very life of the ocean.
The web site discusses the problems with fossil-fuel based plastics and the opportunities and challenges of using biobased plastics — plastics made from plants such as corn, potatoes, sugarcane, and trees — to mitigate these problems. A product with biobased content does not guarantee its sustainability.
Sustainable Plastics?, a project of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, explores how we can make plastics more sustainable throughout their lifecycle from production to recycling or composting at the end of intended use.
