The Promise of Biobased and Biodegradable Polymer Materials in Paper & Paperboard Products Reducing Carbon Footprint and Improving Environmental Performance, PaperCon '09 Conference

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Polymer modifiers, additives, latexes, laminates, and coatings have found significant usage in paper and paperboard products. Today, they are based on petroleum/fossil feedstock and not biodegradable. Biobased and biodegradable polymer materials based on renewable carbon offers the intrinsic value proposition of a reduced carbon footprint depending on the amount of renewable carbon in the product and in harmony with the rates and time scales of natural biological carbon cycle. Biobased polymer materials must be organic and contain in whole or part biogeneic carbon (carbon from biological sources) to be classified as biobased (“bio”). Identification and quantification of biobased content is based on the radioactive C-14 signature associated with (new) bio carbon and is measured as the percent weight of bio carbon to the total organic carbon present in the product. Using experimentally determined bio (renewable) carbon content values, one can calculate this intrinsic CO₂ emissions reduction achieved (the material carbon footprint) by incorporating bio (renewable) carbon into a product. It is important that the intrinsic value gains in CO₂ emissions reduction must not be negated during the conversion and use phase (process carbon footprint), and using LCA tools one can ensure this does not happen. However, process and product improvements and end-of-life options with respect to energy use, and environmental emissions are occurring at a rapid pace. Therefore static LCA’s based on old or outdated data or end-of-life scenarios are misleading and provide the wrong picture.