On March 5, 2020, the BDDC and Professor Amar Mohanty was featured in a special CBC news article discussing bioplastics. The article highlights how plastics are an integral part of our lives, but they also pose some big environmental problems.They generate a lot of waste, most of which isn't recycled. A recent study from Environment and Climate Change Canada found that even in our country, only nine per cent of plastics are recycled — the rest is either incinerated, landfilled or ends up in the environment, where it can harm wildlife such as whales, turtles or seabirds. Those are some of the reasons the federal government plans to ban many single-use plastics by 2021. 

"Bio-based bioplastics typically generate fewer carbon emissions over their life cycle compared to traditional plastics. That's because growing plants suck in and store carbon, which is released later if the bioplastics are burned or decomposed. "You're not adding extra carbon dioxide to the atmosphere," said Amar Mohanty, distinguished research chair in sustainable biomaterials at the University of Guelph, who has been developing and researching bioplastic and biobased materials for more than 30 years."

To continue reading and find more information about bioplastics, please click HERE.