Analysis on the application of bio-plastics for construction materials

Abstract

Plastics have been widely used in the world for over a century. It has been used as principle construction materials since 1970s. This is due to its wide range of properties such as high heat resistance, good flexibility and can be compounded to achieve or provide more properties. But plastic has low biodegradability. As such, a lot of environmental issues like accumulation of plastic debris, release of toxic pollutants, and health issues begin to surface.During the oil crisis in the 1970’s, Bio-plastics begin to surface, acting as a solution to both plastics low biodegradability and the rising price of petroleum, thus reducing the impact brought by conventional petroleum based plastics to the environment. Currently, the major Bioplastics available in the market can be categorised into 3 groups, namely starch, PLA and PHA. Both starch and PLA have some fundamentals problems that lead to the unsuitability to be used as construction materials. As such, PHA becomes the next area of focus. The attractive features of PHA are its unique material properties, its high biodegradability and its ability to synthesize from renewable resources and waste, etc. One of the more prominent products of PHA is Wood Plastic Composites (WPC).