Use of Biosynthetic, Biodegradable Thermoplastics and Elastomers from Renewable Resources: The Pros and Cons

For several reasons, biodegradable polymers have recently attracted much public and industrial interest. This contribution focuses on microbial aspects of the biodegradability of polymeric materials in the environment. It provides an overview on biodegradability and the mechanisms of degradation of relevant natural and technical polymers. Almost all biosynthetic polymers, which are readily available from renewable resources, are biodegradable within a reasonable time scale. Many semibiosynthetic and even chemosynthetic polymers are also biodegradable if they contain chemical bonds which also occur in natural compounds. Only a few polymers are truly persistent. Arguments for and against the use of such polymers are summarized.