SPECIAL ISSUE MINI REVIEW
Environmental Impact of Biodegradable
Packaging Waste Utilization
Krzysztof Pikoń, Monika Czop
More details
Hide details
Department of Technologies and Installations for Waste Management, Silesian University of Technology,
Konarskiego 18, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2014;23(3):969-973
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
Packaging waste is a significant portion of municipal solid waste. It is made mainly of polymers of
petroleum, which are usually non-biodegradable and are in many cases difficult to be recycled or reused. In
recent years, the development of biodegradable packaging materials from renewable natural resources has
gained more attention, especially in the EU. The use of biodegradable materials is expected to have a lower
environmental impact than traditional materials based on non-renewable raw materials. The LCA environmental
impact analysis of biodegradable plastic used in the packaging industry and comparison to other materials
as well as the results of physicochemical analyzes are presented here, in addition to a discussion on the
effects of replacing petroleum materials with biodegradable materials.