Editorial corner - A personal view are biodegradable polymers the solution to the world's environmental problems

Abstract

For all their useful properties, polymers are fast becoming a serious environmental hazard. Polymers are normally disposed through landfilling, recycling and incineration. Landfill sites, however, become increasingly scarce, especially in the more populated areas of the world. Incineration contributes to air pollution and global warming, while recycling is still not applied in most countries of the world. The most significant problem is the uncontrolled disposal of plastic waste, which gives rise to a huge amount of plastics ending up in the earth's oceans, where they degrade very slowly into micro-plastics that are consumed and converted to toxic persistent organic pollutants by marine fauna.