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Over on theiphoneguru.net there was a recent review of the Bioserie iPhone 4 case.  Here is a highlight:

Bioserie iPhone covers consist of a unique blend of biodegradable and environmentally friendly components, which are 100% derived from plants and annually renewable natural resources. The majority of the material blend is made up of Ingeo™ biopolymer, under license from NatureWorks LLC, a key partner in our product material development. Ingeo™ is made in the USA, and derived from plant sugars.

The review is a positive one, giving it full praise for its appearance and texture and it's price of only $34.95.  But a skeptical and inquisitive reader will probably have questions about some of the claims made by the reviewer.

The reviewer says, "bioserie covers do not pollute the environment once discarded as they don’t contain toxic materials that come from petrochemicals," but this is not a sure thing by any stretch of the imagination: whether the cover is biodegradable, compostable, or toxic depends entirely on other additives in the material and how the material is processed.  The fact that it is made from Ingeo biopolymer does not insure that the final product has any of these desirable qualities.

The reviewer says, "they use considerably less petroleum and contribute considerably less greenhouse gases to the atmosphere than traditional plastic materials," but again this depends a lot on the manufacturing process.  Just because the plastic material itself is not made from petroleum, doesn't mean that petroleum aren't used, and greenhouse gasses aren't emitted, during the manufacturing process.

This is not meant as a criticism of this product or of Ingeo plastic products in general.  (We are Green Plastics are great supporters of Ingeo, actually.)

But it is important to think critically about these issues.  If you are a student of Green Plastics, you will take a second look and research some of these questions above and beyond the off-hand claims made in a press release or product review.

According to a recent announcement, we may be able to use cashews in our phones.

NEC says that it has developed a new form of bio-plastic that could be used for mobile phones and is 70% made from a mixture of cellulose, a main component of plant stems, with cardanol, a primary component of cashew nut shells.

Current bio-plastics include large amounts of oil-based additives, which results in a low plant component ratio.

As an alternative to oil-based components, cellulose is the plastic's major ingredient. The cellulose, which is produced in large amounts by plants, including grass stems, etc., is modified by cardanol, an oil-like material that is extracted from cashew nut shells. Most of these stems and nut shells are abundant resources, which are often discarded byproducts of the agricultural process.

This not only will decrease the amount of non-plant additive used in the phone's material, but it does it in a way that won't cause a problem for food prices.

We all know the normal list of reasons to like bio-plastics. They reduce our dependence on oil, they are made from renewable resources, they don't goober-up the environment with non-biodegradable waste, and so on.

But now we have another reason: bioplastic packaging can actually have a beneficial effect on produce. More specifically, using bioplastic packaging may improve the shelf-life of some produce by 50%.

From the article:

"We have as a company started with the application of bioplastics because we want to stand out for our quality and are very keen to conserve the environment. After we solved the initial problems, it was surprising to find that the potatoes had a much longer shelf life with no adverse effect on the quality," said Jaap Kodde, director and owner of Flevostar. "We also found that by using bioplastic no condensation formed inside the packaging because the packaging 'breathes'. Droplets of water which come into contact with a fresh product such as potatoes lead to faster rotting and reduction in quality."

There has been so much focus in the industry on being able to replicate properties of traditional plastics, like high moisture barrier, they seem to overlook the fact that these properties aren't always actually desirable.

Meet Sunyuan Bioproducts, Ltd, a manufacturer of bioplastic products for food services.

It's not a big company: 120 workers, 10 researchers. Think of them as a small "specialty shop" dedicated to doing one thing, and doing it right: bioplastic cutlery.

You can order items in corn-starch (PLA), plant-starch (PLM) or sugarcane. You can order utensils, plates, bowls, trays, and clamshells in various shapes and sizes. The products are heat-resistant up to 100 centigrade, and they even take custom branding requests if you want a logo added for your company or event.

And they are all certified ISO14851, OK Compost, EN13432, and Non-GMO certificate. These are real bioplastics: biodegradable, compostable, and made from renewable resources.

You can find out more at one of their two websites: naturecutlery.com or bio-sy.com.

Teijin LTD has announced the world's first completely bioplastic eyeglasses frames.

Why is this cool?

"Although acetate is commonly used for the plastic parts of eyeglasses, contact with cosmetics or hair-styling products can result in bleaching. Acetate also tends to warp under high heat and can cause skin rashes. The bioplastic polylactide has been used for eyeglass nose pads because its antibacterial properties help to avoid rashes, but conventional polylactide has not been used for other parts such as frames and temples because of insufficient heat resistance."

The material produced by Teijin LTD, Biofront , isn't just any PLA. It is a stereocomplex PLA, meaning that it mixes the standard Poly-L-lacticacid polymer with their enantiomer poly-D-lacticacid polymer. This combination gives the resulting "stereocomplex" material different properties; specifically, and importantly, it has a melting point of 210 degrees, some 40 degrees higher than that of conventional PLA and putting it on par with PBT, a leading engineering plastic. BIOFRONT also is highly resistant to bleaching and bacteria, making it ideal for the plastic parts of eyeglasses.