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Polymer Science: Peer Review Journal

From a Sustainability Perspective, Why Should Bioplastics Be Used for Additive Manufacturing?

Submission: January 25, 2023;Published: February 02, 2023

Volume4 Issue4
February 02, 2023

Abstract

As climate change awareness increases, the worldwide interest in efficiently using resources, materials, and energy increases. From producers to consumers, the demand for sustainability-oriented processes has become stronger across all stock market sectors. Additive Manufacturing (AM) is a promising and relatively new manufacturing process that helps to overcome supply chain, logistics, and environmental issues that traditional processes face. Fortunately, AM can process different raw materials, such as glass, metal, ceramics, and plastics. Even though AM helps to reduce the use of the material in general, in the case of plastic, the environmental impact of their production and biodegradability remains an issue. As a response, plastics made from natural and renewable resources have become an alternative to the harmful conventional petroleum-based and no biodegradable plastics. Fortunately, there is evidence of products done through AM from these environmental-friendly plastics. The following review is intended to highlight (1) the opportunities and challenges for AM, (2) the comparison between bio and petroleum-plastic in 3D printing from a sustainability point of view, and (3) the economic and environmental benefits of this innovative combination of manufacturing processes and materials. This review provides a fundamental understanding and applied knowledge to create a new additive manufacturing platform based on renewable plant-based feedstocks.

Keywords:Additive manufacturing; 3D printing; Bioplastics; Biodegradable plastics; Sustainability

Abbreviations:AM: Additive Manufacturing; CAGR: Compound Annual Growth Rate; PLA: Polylactic Acid, PHAs: Polyhydroxyalkanoates; FDM: Fused Deposition Modeling; ABS: Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene; PVA: Polyvinyl Alcohol; PET: Polyethylene Terephthalate; HIPS: High Impact Polystyrene; PA: Nylon Plastic; PS: Polystyrene; PE: Polyethylene; PP: Polypropylene; GHG: Greenhouse Gases; PCL: Polycaprolactone; PBS: Polybutylene Succinate; PBAT: Polybutylene Adipate Terephthalate; CAB: Cellulose Acetate Butyrate; CAP: Cellulose Acetate Propionate; HPC: Hydroxypropyl Cellulose

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