バイオマスプラスチックの動向とバイオポリプロピレンへの取り組み

抄録

Many aspects of daily life depend on plastics due to their functionality and convenience. On the other hand, plastics are facing societal challenges such as efficient treatment after-use, leakage to the environment, depletion of fossil resources, and climate change. From the viewpoint of a circular economy, an important countermeasure is to convert fossil resources to biomass, or renewable resources, as a raw material for plastics. This paper introduces the role of bioplastics and the current state of raw material conversion with an emphasis on polyolefins, which account for a large proportion of plastics. In addition, we introduce business and technological examples of bio-polyethylene, which has been societally implemented worldwide among bio-polyolefins. We also provide examples of development and challenges of bio-polypropylene. Further development and utilization of environmentally sound bio-polyolefins should promote a sustainable social system.