The Bioeconomy and the New Biomaterials Enabling It

Materials made from biological sources are not new; they are as old as humans making things to meet their needs. In fact, we were constrained by the rate of growth of natural processes for a very long time — until we synthesized polymers to create the crazy world of plastics and synthetic materials.

But recently, we figured out that plastics and many of the “manmade” materials stick around for a very very long time, can’t be safely reabsorbed back into nature, and cause all sorts of issues to humans and more-than-human bodies (bioaccumulation of microplastics, endocrine disruptors etc). And so, the field of bioplastics was birthed, encompassing the suite of materials that mimic the properties of petrochemical-based plastics using natural material inputs. Biomaterials are those that are made from biological inputs; they encompass bioplastics and also include a much broader scope of material types.

Bioplastics have existed in multiple forms; even the first “plastic” was cellulose, which was made from cellulose and alcoholized camphor. But over the last couple of decades, the science has expanded from the first generation of bioplastics such as PLA (polylactic acid) to an entirely new branch of materials made from natural inputs that should be able to easily and safely be digested back into nature. Not all of these are actually considered bioplastics, but they are materials that can perform as well as plastics and thus displace their use.

A bioplastic is defined as a material made from plant or biological material instead of using petroleum as the primary input. There are, however, many considerations as to whether these are “better” for the environment or not, which we will get into during this article.

What is the Bioeconomy?

The bioeconomy is the intentional use and flow-through of biological materials in economic activity; in addition to using renewable biological materials, it also promotes regenerative practices in extraction and utilization.

The bioeconomy includes bioplastics and biomaterials. It leverages natural and technologically-altered aspects of plants, animals and microorganisms to create things like materials, products, polymers, pigments, etc. that can facilitate economic activity with much lesser impacts on nature. The key to the bioeconomy in relation to sustainability is considering the full scope of impacts and ensuring that the entire process from extraction to end of life is actually ecologically beneficial.

“There are three main types of bioeconomy: one that balances economic growth with environmental care, one focused on using biology for economic gain, and one that protects biodiversity and empowers local communities.” — Source

As the interest and application of the bioeconomy has grown, the approaches have evolved, including the integration of green/sustainability assessments and considerations. Just because we are using natural inputs doesn’t necessarily mean that the process and outputs are more sustainable. Any time resources are extracted from nature, there are impacts, and unless these are understood and managed, they are often negative to nature.

More recently the “green economy” and nature-positive principles have been adopted and are working to ensure economic activities are restorative and regenerative to nature. The bioeconomy fits within these and is a major part of the circular economy.

How the Bioeconomy Fits within the Circular Economy

The circular economy involves the intentional redirection of material flows via technical and biological cycles. This is often demonstrated through what’s called the butterfly diagram. Below is our interpretation of this.

On the technical side, products and materials that can’t be benignly reabsorbed into nature safely are cycled through well-designed industrial processes to extract and repurpose these materials. Strategies include repair, remanufacture, reuse and further down, recycling. This includes pretty much most of the modern economy, as we often combine materials and make complex products filled with polymers, adhesives, etc. that are not safe to “degrade” back into nature (and often won’t for a very long time anyway!).

On the biological flow side, this encompasses all the products and materials that can be safely reabsorbed into nature, such as all organic waste from food, uncoated papers and the branch of biomaterials that don’t have additives that prevent them from safely degrading. The bioeconomy is about ensuring that we input natural materials back into nature, and from the CE ISO standards perspective, these need to be easily degradable in home composting or industrial digestion (which includes things like biodigesters and industrial composters).

Environmental Considerations of Bioplastics

Before I share some exciting new biomaterial examples, allow me to explain how not all bioplastics/biomaterials perform the same way, with many requiring a technical degradation process to break down, which impacts their overall desirability in the circular economy. Based on what inputs are used to make the bioplastic and what/if additives were used, this will affect how the material performs at the end of life and what conditions are needed (heat, microbes, etc.) to break it down and safely reabsorb the inputs.

There are three basic levels:

Home compostable means that they can be thrown in your home composts and safely be gobbled up by microbes along with your lettuce scraps; these are easily returned to nature.

Biodegradable means that the material can biodegrade but usually requires a more controlled environment, such as an industrial biodigester, which mimics the digestion process of an animal. In a closed environment, microbes and heat are added to speed up the process of breaking down the organic materials. This is where industrial composting and biodigesters play a large part in processing biomaterials at scale.

Degradable can apply to anything that could technically break down over time, but it does not necessarily mean it will fully decompose. In fact, things like plastic bags could be defined as degradable since, over time, they will degrade — but just into tiny little pieces of microplastic.

Many of the first-generation of biopolymers have additives that are not biodegradable, so that negates the benefit of having a bioplastic at the end of life and is complex to manage. There is a new breed of biomaterials designed to ensure that they are biodegradable, and in the new EU laws on sustainable packaging, many products must be home-compost-level biodegradable.

Another concern when addressing the environmental performance of bio-based materials is the different inputs used to produce the crop that’s making the material. Things like corn, sugarcane pulp, mycelium grown on straw, sawdust and many more crops are being used to create bio-based materials, but all of these need land and various inputs like fertilizer to grow them. These inputs can lead to land depletion, pollution and carbon contributions via fertilizer inputs and mechanical processes (because that needs petrochemical fuels — check out the LCAs on PLA for an example of this). Also, fertile land used for food production that is used to make bio-materials can result in adverse outcomes, as less food gets produced.

The source material, where and how it is produced, what it displaces in its redirection to bioplastics and the end of life are all very important factors in assessing the viability of biomaterials from a sustainability perspective. This is where the use of Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) is critical to assessing and validating the environmental performance of new materials to ensure scientifically proven benefits.

The holy grail of bioplastics are those that are made with minimal/no petrochemical inputs across their entire life (think about what is needed to produce the source material) and mimic natural materials so that they can be home-composted (which means if they escape into nature, they will easily and safely degrade), as well as those that are made with regenerative inputs/practices so there is a low impact to nature. In the bioeconomy side of the circular economy, it’s all about nature doing the recycling and processing, and the nutrients being returned to nature so there is a need to think like nature to make this side of the system work.

It also helps if the input material into the biomaterial is the waste from another established industry that, at present, would be going to landfill or a lower level use in the economy (such as agricultural or food production waste that is reconfigured to a new material). Another key consideration is scale, as some materials are harmless at small or medium scale of production, but as soon as an excessive amount is needed (such as by a major corporation), then this can result in unsustainable harvesting (now that natural stocks like seaweed are being used a lot, this could cause ecosystem collapse if too much is extracted at once, for example).

All of this is to reinforce that there are many trade-offs to be considered and managed when selecting the base inputs, production processes and end-of-life options in biomaterials. What we don’t want to do is make more environmental problems with our bio-solutions!

Presently, bioplastics make up less than half a percent of 1% of all plastics used in the economy. But a new generation of bio-based materials is helping to drive innovation forward, resolve some of these former issues and make commercial sense.

New Bio-Based Materials Facilitating the Bioeconomy

The bioeconomy is not just about replacing plastics — it encompasses all aspects of the biological system and accounts for the impacts that activities from the industrial side have on nature, as these need to be remediated by nature. It also seeks to transform the harmful/polluting side of things into a low-impact, circular and regenerative set of systems.

As mentioned, the evolution of this space is emerging and ongoing. There needs to be a lot more exploration, experimentation and funding dedicated to finding a suite of material solutions to replace harmful plastics and synthetics from the modern economy with alternatives that are regenerative and benign when entering back into nature.

Let’s look at a few of the new biomaterials on the market made from a variety of inputs, such as agricultural waste production, banana skins, seaweed and even enzymes from microbes.

BananaTex: Made from banana production waste in the Philippines, it’s said to be durable and biodegradable. This plastic-free fabric is made from regeneratively farmed plants, and they work on reforestation in areas of former rainforest logging.

NotPla: Made from seaweed to produce bioplastic packaging solutions that can biodegrade in home composting, this is a darling of the new generation of bioplastics, having won the Earthshot Prize a few years ago and developing innovative methods of application. They refer to it as “disappearing packaging,” as its properties allow it to break down safely into nature.

OtherMatter: Algae-based signage that can replace PVC signage in exhibitions, retail and events, this innovative application can be repurposed and reused following each application.

Carbon Cell: Biochar foam that is designed to replace expanded polystyrene, this high-performance expandable foam is fully compostable and is said to lock in carbon for centuries.

FibreLab: After collecting wasted textiles in London like cut-offs from manufacturing and discarded hotel linen, they shred, sort and clean the fibers to then make paper from it. The paper is called “Paper Tex” as well as filling material for interior products.

SeasTex: These guys use the beards from mussels to make insulation and acoustic products that replace synthetic versions. The byssus (“beards”) are usually removed through industrial cleaning for the large-scale mussel industry; they take this, clean it and create a usable fiber. They also offer a free collection service for end-of-life products and compensate customers for the recovered materials.

Adaozan: Waste product from making apple cider in Brittany is collected and converted into a product that can be used to make a material that looks like cork — they are still in their early days and have a few consumer products available.

Cocopallet: Coconut husks are used to create export pallets, which replace the use of trees to make single-use pallets and ensure that these can be reused and biodegradable at the end of life. They can even be used as an input into agriculture to improve soil quality.

ReStalk: By using agricultural waste to create cellulose “tree-free” packaging and textiles, they are making a network of products and collecting crop waste that would traditionally be burned.

Sparxell: Cellulose used to make pigments that can be used in anything from makeup to glitter. Using plant-based cellulose as a base, these can get nature-inspired compounds that mimic the vibrant hues found in nature to create bio-based pigments, without the nasty chemicals.

Ourobio: Using microbes to make bioplastics, they ferment collected organic waste from industry and create biomaterials. They appear to still be in their early days and don’t disclose what products their materials could be used for.

Shellworks Vivomer: They make bioplastics made from enzymes that are extracted from microbes grown in tanks used to make beer. From these enzymes, they then extract the granules from their cells and then use normal plastic manufacturing equipment to make plastics that perform like solid plastics but can biodegrade at home.

Traceless: Using food waste, they synthesize polymers that can be used to make many plastic-like products that can then easily biodegrade in home composts in a few days.

Thanks to everyone in my network who shared many of these with me via a LinkedIn request; if you have any more, please comment below so we can continue to build out this inspiration bank!

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