Bio-based plastics, biodegradable plastics, and compostable plastics: biodegradation mechanism, biodegradability standards and environmental stratagem

Conventional polymers are environmentally damaging materials; therefore, global efforts are being made to gradually replace these conventional polymers with bio-based, biodegradable, and compostable plastics due to claims of being more sustainable than petroleum-based plastics. However, such claims may not be based on reality, and unregulated bio plastics may cause environmental anarchy similar to conventional plastics. The degradation of bioplastics has received significant attention because it is the parameter used to evaluate their end-of-life disposal and to assess their environmental shortcomings - where the bioplastics which degrade completely in different environments, thus, considered as an…