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The Plastics Sunset and the Bio-Plastics Sunrise

2019; Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute; Volume: 9; Issue: 8 Linguagem: Inglês

10.3390/coatings9080526

2079-6412

Raffaele Porta,

Additive Manufacturing and 3D Printing Technologies

Plastics has been an integral part of our lives for the last century as the main material for various useful commodity items. Irony of fate, the same specific properties that make plastics ideal to create such a wide range of products are also responsible for the present dramatic environmental pollution. What suggestions do the technological innovations currently suggest to solve this worldwide problem? Among the others, one is to replace the traditional plastics with alternative materials derived from non-oil polymers capable of being degraded in months and not in years or centuries. But the research in this field is relatively new and undoubtedly there are still developments that need to be made. Thus, we must be aware that the plastic age is at sunset and the bio-plastics sun is just rising on the horizon.