Figure 1.

An overview of possibilities created by implementation of biodegradable plastic. Biobased resources and/or waste are used as a feeding stock for the production of plastic, which can be biobased, biodegradable or both. The products made from plastic can be reused, recycled and in the case of biodegradable plastic, that is polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), polylactic acid (PLA), thermoplastic starch (TPS) biodegraded to provide new feed stocks for the microbial and/or chemical conversion into plastic, therefore closing the cycle. For applications that would inevitably lead to plastic products reaching the environment, implementation of biodegradable plastic could be used to reduce and prevent the accumulation of plastic waste.