On February 1, 2021, the Ministry of Science and Technology issued a notice for soliciting opinions on the 2021 annual project application guidelines for 18 key special projects of the "14th Five-Year Plan" national key research and development plan. Among them, the preparation and industrialization of low-cost bio-based engineering plastics and biodegradable polymer materials that can be repeatedly chemically cycled were selected into the key special projects of "Advanced Structure and Composite Materials" and "High-end Function and Smart Materials".

When many people mention bio-based and biodegradable, they always unconsciously confuse the two, and gradually they subjectively think that the two are the same thing. In fact, bio-based (Biobased) and biodegradable (Biodegradable) are two a completely different concept. Biodegradation is mainly a concept proposed from the perspective of the digestibility of the environment after plastics are discarded, while bio-based is a concept proposed from the perspective of raw material sources.

Biobased ≠ biodegradable

Bio-based materials are new materials and chemicals made from renewable biomass such as grains, legumes, straw, bamboo and wood powder, including bio-alcohols, organic acids, Basic bio-based chemicals such as alkanes and olefins, as well as bio-based plastics, bio-based fibers, sugar engineering products, bio-based rubber, and plastic materials obtained by thermoplastic processing of biomass.

Biodegradable plastics refer to plastics that can be decomposed naturally under the action of microorganisms. Biodegradation is a chemical process in which microorganisms in the environment convert substances into natural substances such as water, carbon dioxide and other compostable materials without artificial additives. The process of biodegradation is mainly determined by factors such as environmental conditions (such as temperature or location), material properties or application.

The nature of biodegradation does not depend on what kind of material a material comes from, but on its chemical structure. In other words, 100% bio-based plastics may also be non-biodegradable, and 100% fossil-based plastics may also biodegrade. Bio-based solves the problem of product raw materials, and biodegradation solves the problem of where plastic waste goes after the end of product life.

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