Plastico biodegradavel

Quim. Nova, Vol. 29, No. 4, 811-816, 2006 POLÍMEROS BIODEGRADÁVEIS – UMA SOLUÇÃO PARCIAL PARA DIMINUIR A QUANTIDADE DOS RESÍDUOS PLÁSTICOS Sandra Mara Martins Franchetti* e José Carlos Marconato Departamento de Bioquímica e Microbiologia, Universidade Estadual Paulista “Júlio de Mesquita Filho”, CP 199, 13506-900 Rio Claro - SP, Brasil Recebido em 13/12/04; aceito em 21/10/05; publicado na web em 24/3/06

BIODEGRADABLE POLYMERS – A PARTIAL WAY FOR DECREASING THE AMOUNT OF PLASTIC WASTE. The large use of plastics has generated a waste deposit problem. Today plastic wastes represent 20% in volume of the total waste in the municipal landfills. To solve the disposal problem of plastics methods have been employed such as incineration, recycling, landfill disposal, biodegradation and the use of biodegradable polymers. Incineration of plastic wastes provokes pollution due to the production of poisonous gases. Recycling is important to reduce final costs of plastic materials, but is not enough in face of the amount of discarded plastic. In landfills plastic wastes remain undegraded for a long time, causing space and pollution problems. Biodegradation is a feasible method to treat some plastics, but intensive research is necessary to find conditions for the action of microorganisms. All of these methods are important and the practical application of each one depends on the type and amount of the plastic wastes and the environmental conditions. Therefore, a great deal of research has focused on developing biodegradable plastics and its application because it is an important way for minimizing the effect of the large volume of plastic waste discarded in the world. Keywords: biodegradable polymers; plastic waste; biodegradation.

INTRODUÇÃO Até pouco tempo atrás era importante descobrir materiais cada vez mais duráveis para utilização diária no mercado e dentre estes estavam os plásticos, com grande variedade de aplicações, devido a suas propriedades, versatilidade de uso