Where Engineering & Chemistry Intersect for Broader Impact

14
Biodegradable Plastics Industry
Plastics in the Medical Sphere
Medical disposables can be defined as single-use products that are used in surgical
and procedural applications. A fact sheet published by the American Chemistry Council,
a plastic trade group, says, “Single-use plastics are the cleanest, most efficient way” to
facilitate health and hygiene in hospitals. [14]
As established in the previous sections, plastic plays an important role within the
health-care sphere. The benefits of plastics are apparent in medicine and public health
due to their versatility, cost-effectiveness, and minimal energy required to produce,
compared to metals and glass. Due to this, polymers are used in various health
applications, such as disposable syringes and intravenous bags, sterile packaging for
medical instruments as well as joint replacements, tissue engineering, etc.
Currently in the market, alternative products, often biodegradable, are costly to
produce and can be a source of criticism due to their differing waste disposal procedures
and slow decomposition times. One major challenge is to find a plastic alternative that
would degrade swiftly without releasing harmful toxins into the environment and that
would serve as a safe alternative.
Recently, significant progress has been made in the development of biodegradable
materials with similar functionality to that of oil-based polymers, commonly used in
packaging applications. The expansion into these biodegradable materials has potential
benefits for greenhouse gas balances and other environmental impacts over whole life
cycles. It is intended that use of biodegradable materials will contribute to sustainability
WHERE ENGINEERING & CHEMISTRY INTERSECT FOR BROADER IMPACT
NGUYEN, KATIE