More than 51.4 million metric tonnes of plastic resins were produced in the US in 2006, with 7% of the approximately 20,000 barrel of crude oil the US imported daily, while green plastics or biopolymers made from vegetable oils only constituted 2-3% of the plastics market.
Posted by envirostats on Monday, September 3, 2007
113 billion pounds = 51.4 million metric tonnes
Plastic resins are used for goods such as vinyl siding for houses and furniture foam. Processing the petroleum to make plastics takes more energy than processing vegetable oil that could be used to make plastics, not to mention more biodegradable plastics. However, there is hope with new advancements like BiOH polyol plastics made from soybeans, among many other products. Unfortunately, technically, none of these biopolymers are a substitute for petroleum based plastic products.
There are no standards for what constitutes a “green” plastic so if it’s 5% biobased, then it’s a green product. Government will have to step up and put in standards.Cargill’s preliminary life-cycle analyses show its BiOH polyols produce 36% less greenhouse-gas emissions and reduce total energy demand by 23% when replacing petroleum versions. According to calculations by a consulting firm hired by Cargill, 1 million lb of BiOH polyol saves about 2200 barrels of crude oil (nearly 700,000 lb). Add to this that soybeans and other crops are renewable resources, and you don’t have to worry about running out of them with cropland still available for growing plastic feedstocks.
- Environmental Science & Technology, Aug 29 2007
Saturday, September 8, 2007 at 5:56 pm
I am all for reducing the usage and production of plastic after reading about what havoc it’s been wreaking in our ocean: http://www.bestlifeonline.com/cms/publish/health-fitness/Our_oceans_are_turning_into_plastic_are_we_2.shtml
The very first thing to do for me is to reduce my consumption of plastic in any form, since personal recycling does not guarantee the reuse. It is a good trend to move toward more biodegradable plastic. Want to bring up a few points:
1. I absolutely agree that there needs to be a standard for “green plastic”, otherwise it is just another greenwash produt.
2. Since it is made from soy bean or corn, what does it do to our land use? As it is, mono-agriculture has taken over the midwest landscape, with fertilizer residual draining all the way into the gulf-coast, creating a dead zone the size of Texas. The last thing we need to have more soy/corn grown that way in order for Cargill to make more $ on “green plastic”.
3. Because of the demand of soybean, a whole lot of rain forest is being cleared every day to grow the crop. As consumers we often do not know what it takes for us to get our plastic cups at $0.5 each from Wal-mart.
Anyway, technology is awesome. But being mindful of what we consume everyday carries even more weight in my humble opinion.
Friday, September 14, 2007 at 11:03 pm
[...] is important, Minh from Envirostats.info cited that more than 51.4 million metric tones of plastic resins were produced in the US in 2006. [...]
Friday, September 21, 2007 at 7:48 pm
Thank you for the comments and reference, Cindy. Great advice.
Minh