Impact of Biopolymers in a Circular Economy

Biopolymers are polymeric macromolecules with diverse applications due to their exquisite properties like biodegradability, biocompatibility, and ready availability. Biopolymers can reduce and replace the use of renewable fossil fuels. Biopolymers are obtained from renewable sources, emphasizing their sustainable nature. A circular economy can be likened to a chain wherein resources obtained from the environment are used, recycled, and reused, rather than disposed of. Such an economy focuses on both source reduction and waste minimization and prevents over-exploitation of natural resources. Biopolymers tend to play essential roles in promoting a circular economy. Hence the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) focuses on the adoption of biopolymers for achieving a circular economy. The sustainability of biopolymers may be improved by functional modification of compounds by means of structural alterations. The production of biopolymers by less toxic reagents could obviate the use of non-renewable materials and establish newer pathways for degradation and recycling. The advantages of biopolymeric materials in a circular economy could be evaluated by life cycle assessment (LCA), their physical and chemical properties, their sustainability, and their toxicity. This chapter serves as an introduction to biopolymers, their properties, and their classification. It further concerns itself with end-of-life (EOL) schemes for biopolymers, the circular economy of biopolymeric materials, and the sustainability of biopolymeric materials.