Former?Biodegradable?Plastics?Society,?Japan?(BPS)?has?changed?the?name?to?Japan?BioPlastics?Association?(**PA)?on?15th?of?June?2007.

Japan?BioPlastics?Association?(**PA)?was?established?in?1989?Japan?as?the?name?of?Biodegradable?Plastics?Society,?Japan?(BPS).Since?then,?with?more?than?200?membership?companies,?**PA?has?been?making?many?efforts?to?promote?the?recognition?and?the?business?development?of?"Biodegradable?Plastics"?and?"Biomass-based?Plastics"?in?Japan.**PA?keeps?close?cooperation?basis?with?US?(BPI),?EU?(European?Bioplastics)?,?China?(BMG)?and?Korea?and?continues?the?discussion?with?them?about?various?technical?items,?such?as?the?Analytical?method?to?evaluate?the?biodegradability,?the?products?specification,?the?recognition?and?labelling?system?etc.?We?think?the?close?communication?within?Asian?area?is?most?important?especially?connected?with?the?rapid?development?activity?in?these?areas.

History?and?Background?of?GreenPla(R)

When?you?look?around?in?your?daily?life,?you'll?notice?that?plastics?are?used?everywhere.?Plastics,?which?are?light?in?weight,?can?be?easily?processed?into?various?shapes?and?colors,?and?are?available?at?low?costs,?are?a?typical?example?of?outstanding?benefits?of?advanced?science?and?technology.?We?are?enjoying?comfortable?modern?lives?brought?about?by?the?plastics.

Stability?and?durability?of?plastics?are?very?useful?characteristics?when?the?plastics?are?in?use.?However,?the?strength?of?plastics?could?cause?some?reverse?problems;?the?issue?of?plastic?waste?s.?Plastic?wastes?tend?to?be?conspicuous?at?landfill?sites?and,?since?plastics?in?general?are?light?in?specific?weight,?volumetric?percentage?of?waste?plastics?in?the?total?waste?is?relatively?high.?Waste?plastics?have?been?sometimes?regarded?as?the?major?cause?of?rapid?depletion?of?available?landfill?sites.

Once?discharged?into?natural?environment,?some?of?the?plastics?are?very?difficult?to?retrieve.?Stories?of?fishing?line?tangled?on?seabird's?legs?and?plastic?bags?found?in?stomach?of?sea?turtle?are,?for?example,?very?often?carried?in?news?papers.?We?are?now?facing?the?fact,?more?often?than?ever,?that?waste?plastics?discharged?as?the?result?of?human?activities?are?threatening?the?wild?lives?and?damaging?the?environment.

Biodegradable?plastics?(?GreenPla(R)?)?have?been?developed?as?one?of?the?solutions?to?the?problems.?Biodegradable?plastics?can?be?used?in?the?same?way?as?conventional?plastics?under?ordinary?conditions,?but?they?are?degraded?by?microorganisms?like?woods?and?cotton?once?they?have?become?disused.?GreenPla,?which?is?eventually?degraded?to?carbon?dioxide?and?water?in?the?natural?cycle,?is?the?first?plastics?that?take?into?account?the?treatment?and?final?disposal?after?used.?

The?term?"Biodegradability"?is?defined?as?the?characteristics?of?material?that?can?be?microbiologically?degraded?to?the?final?products?of?carbon?dioxide?and?water,?which?in?turn?are?recycled?in?the?nature.?Biodegradation?should?be?distinguished?from?disintegration?which?simply?means?the?material?is?broken?into?small?and?separate?pieces.?Biodegradability?of?plastics?is?determined?by?the?ISO?methods?and?evaluated?based?upon?the?pre-established?criteria.?Only?biodegradable?plastics?that?meet?the?rigorous?criteria?such?as?contents?of?heavy?metals?and?safe?intermediate?reaction?products?may?be?classified?as?GreenPla(R).

GreenPlas?of?natural?organics?origin?include?chitosan/?cellulose/starch?compound,?cellulose?acetateand?denatured?starch?with?thermal?plasticity?are?typical?examples?of?this?type?of?GreenPla.

When?you?look?around?in?your?daily?life,?you'll?notice?that?plastics?are?used?everywhere.?Plastics,?which?are?light?in?weight,?can?be?easily?processed?into?various?shapes?and?colors,?and?are?available?at?low?costs,?are?a?typical?example?of?outstanding?benefits?of?advanced?science?and?technology.?We?are?enjoying?comfortable?modern?lives?brought?about?by?the?plastics.

Stability?and?durability?of?plastics?are?very?useful?characteristics?when?the?plastics?are?in?use.?However,?the?strength?of?plastics?could?cause?some?reverse?problems;?the?issue?of?plastic?waste?s.?Plastic?wastes?tend?to?be?conspicuous?at?landfill?sites?and,?since?plastics?in?general?are?light?in?specific?weight,?volumetric?percentage?of?waste?plastics?in?the?total?waste?is?relatively?high.?Waste?plastics?have?been?sometimes?regarded?as?the?major?cause?of?rapid?depletion?of?available?landfill?sites.

Once?discharged?into?natural?environment,?some?of?the?plastics?are?very?difficult?to?retrieve.?Stories?of?fishing?line?tangled?on?seabird's?legs?and?plastic?bags?found?in?stomach?of?sea?turtle?are,?for?example,?very?often?carried?in?news?papers.?We?are?now?facing?the?fact,?more?often?than?ever,?that?waste?plastics?discharged?as?the?result?of?human?activities?are?threatening?the?wild?lives?and?damaging?the?environment.

Biodegradable?plastics?(?GreenPla(R)?)?have?been?developed?as?one?of?the?solutions?to?the?problems.?Biodegradable?plastics?can?be?used?in?the?same?way?as?conventional?plastics?under?ordinary?conditions,?but?they?are?degraded?by?microorganisms?like?woods?and?cotton?once?they?have?become?disused.?GreenPla,?which?is?eventually?degraded?to?carbon?dioxide?and?water?in?the?natural?cycle,?is?the?first?plastics?that?take?into?account?the?treatment?and?final?disposal?after?used.?

The?term?"Biodegradability"?is?defined?as?the?characteristics?of?material?that?can?be?microbiologically?degraded?to?the?final?products?of?carbon?dioxide?and?water,?which?in?turn?are?recycled?in?the?nature.?Biodegradation?should?be?distinguished?from?disintegration?which?simply?means?the?material?is?broken?into?small?and?separate?pieces.?Biodegradability?of?plastics?is?determined?by?the?ISO?methods?and?evaluated?based?upon?the?pre-established?criteria.?Only?biodegradable?plastics?that?meet?the?rigorous?criteria?such?as?contents?of?heavy?metals?and?safe?intermediate?reaction?products?may?be?classified?as?GreenPla(R).

GreenPlas?of?natural?organics?origin?include?chitosan/?cellulose/starch?compound,?cellulose?acetateand?denatured?starch?with?thermal?plasticity?are?typical?examples?of?this?type?of?GreenPla.

History?and?Background?of?Biomass-based?Plastics

★Global?Warming

Global?warming,?which?is?a?typical?issue?of?climate?change,?is?an?important?subject?to?be?coped?with?from?the?global?and?long-term?point?of?view.?Atmospheric?concentration?of?carbon?dioxide,?which?is?one?of?the?green?house?gases,?used?to?be?280?ppm?before?the?industrial?revolution.?The?concentration?has?rapidly?risen?to?the?current?380?ppm?over?a?short?period?of?time?since?then,?and?is?expected?to?continue?to?rise?to?500?to?1,000?ppm?by?the?end?of?21st?century?if?no?countermeasures?are?taken.?It?is?generally?agreed?on?that?a?balance?between?the?carbon?sink?(?ca.?3?billion?t-C/year;?terrestrial?and?marine?sinks?combined)?and?the?carbon?discharge?(ca.?6.3?billion?t-C/year)?must?be?maintained?in?order?to?stabilize?the?atmospheric?concentration?of?carbon?dioxide.?Some?symptoms?of?environmental?abnormalities?due?to?the?increase?in?the?atmospheric?concentration?of?green?house?gases?have?already?begun?being?noticed.?It?had?taken?hundreds?of?thousand?years?to?fix?enough?carbons?in?the?earth?and?establish?the?current?environmental?conditions,?but?we?can?clearly?conceive?the?possible?danger?of?rapid?deterioration?of?the?global?environment?in?near?future?due?to?the?drastic?increase?in?consumption?of?fossil?resources?within?the?last?couple?of?centuries.

★Ratification?of?the?Kyoto?Protocol?and?the?government?policy?

The?Japanese?Government?ratified?the?Kyoto?Protocol?in?June,?2002?and?took?the?first?step?to?draw?up?the?plan?against?global?warming.?Following?the?ratification,?the?government?announced?two?practical?state?measures?to?promote?the?policy?in?December,?2002;?these?two?being?the?"Biotechnology?Strategic?Scheme"?and?the?"Biomass?Nippon?Strategy".

The?main?objective?of?the?two?strategies?is?to?promote?the?utilization?of?biomass,?which?is?a?renewable?resource,?by?applying?fast-advancing?biotechnologies?in?order?to?mitigate?the?global?warming?and?other?relevant?environmental?abnormalities,?as?well?as?to?reduce?the?consumption?of?fossil?resources?that?are?depleting?quickly.

★Let's?Replace?20%?of?Petrochemical?Plastics?with?Biomass-based?Plastics?

In?the?strategies?proposed?as?an?important?issue?is?the?expansion?of?use?of?biomass-based?plastics,?which?are?made?from?renewable?resources?by?applying?advanced?biochemical?technologies.?The?policy?objective?stated?in?the?Biotechnology?Strategic?Scheme?is?to?replace?approximately?20?%?(2.5?to?3?million?tons?per?year)?of?conventional?plastics?with?plastics?from?renewable?resources?by?late?2010s.?If?production?of?plastics?can?be?feasible?from?biomass?such?as?plants?that?can?be?renewed?within?the?time?period?of?a?few?dozens?of?years?at?most?instead?of?fossil?resources?that?are?depleting,?we?can?accomplish?both?the?reduction?in?consumption?of?fossil?resources?and?the?prevention?of?increase?in?atmospheric?concentration?of?carbon?dioxide?simultaneously.?This?is?the?concept?of?Carbon?Neutrality,?and?Biomass-based?Plastics?are?the?representative?materials?of?the?concept.?

Characteristics?of?Biomass-based?Plastics?

Japan?BioPlastics?Association?(**PA)?defines?Biomass-based?Plastics?as?polymer?materials?that?are?produced?by?synthesizing,?either?chemically?or?biologically,?materials?which?contain?renewable?organic?materials?(natural?organic?polymer?materials?that?are?not?chemically?modified?are?excluded).

Plastics?are?indispensable?to?support?our?lives.?**PA?desires?to?provide?plastic?materials?while?helping?to?so*e?the?most?urgent?and?important?issues?of?preservation?of?global?environment?and?establishment?of?recycle-oriented?society?by?applying?chemical?and?biochemical?technologies?on?the?biomass?resources?

Characteristics?of?Biomass-based?Plastics?

Japan?BioPlastics?Association?(**PA)?defines?Biomass-based?Plastics?as?polymer?materials?that?are?produced?by?synthesizing,?either?chemically?or?biologically,?materials?which?contain?renewable?organic?materials?(natural?organic?polymer?materials?that?are?not?chemically?modified?are?excluded).

Plastics?are?indispensable?to?support?our?lives.?**PA?desires?to?provide?plastic?materials?while?helping?to?so*e?the?most?urgent?and?important?issues?of?preservation?of?global?environment?and?establishment?of?recycle-oriented?society?by?applying?chemical?and?biochemical?technologies?on?the?biomass?resources.

Materials?and?Types?of?Biomass-based?Plastics?

Biomass-based?Plastics?are?characterized?by?use?of?biomass?as?the?raw?materials.?Many?kinds?of?biomass?materials?may?be?used?to?produce?Biomass-based?Plastics?which?are?categorized?in?two?classes;?totally?Biomass-based?Plastics?and?partially?Biomass-based?Plastics.

★Totally?Biomass-based?Plastics

Plastics?totally?made?from?biomass?materials.?PLA?and?esterised?starch?are?the?examples.

If?both?succinic?acid?and?1,4-butanediol?of?biomass?origin?can?be?substituted?for?the?currently?used?materials?of?petrochemical?origin,?polybutylene?succinate?family?(PBS)?are?to?be?classified?as?All-out?BiomassPla.

Partially?Biomass-based?Plastics?

Polypropyrene?terephthalate?(PPT)?products?containing?propylene?glycol?produced?by?fermentation?are?already?on?the?market.?Copolymerized?PLA?and?Cellulose?acetate?are?also?the?examples?of?partial?BiomassPla.?

Studies?and?development?are?currently?being?undertaken?to?substitute?petrochemical?succinic?acid,?used?to?produce?PBS?and?PBSA,?and?petrochemical?1,4-butanediol,?used?to?produce?PBAT,?with?those?of?biomass?origin.?When?the?substitution?is?completed,?these?plastics?are?to?be?classified?as?partially?Biomass-based?Plastics.