PRODUCTION OF EASILY BIODEGRADABLE BIOPLASTIC USING MICRO AND MACRO ALGAE: AN EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH

Abstract

People's demands for plastic materials in the world are increasing day by day. However, due to the reusable nature of plastic materials, these wastes constitute one of the most important environmental problems. It takes an average of 450 years for a simple plastic to decompose in nature. Unless another material is used to replace them, plastics will continue to be a serious and unstoppable threat to our world. This means that our lands and seas are filled with plastic. For a sustainable environment, it is necessary to turn to bioplastics that are biodegradable, non-toxic and non-oil-based, renewable and environmentally friendly. Bioplastics are plastics obtained from renewable biomass sources. In this study, micro and macro algae, which occupy a large space in our ecosystem, can grow rapidly in all renewable biomass resources, and have a significant effect on carbon dioxide absorption, were preferred in the production of bioplastics. Features such as the fact that algae do not compete with food sources, that they can be produced even in wastewater, and that they dissolve quickly in nature are also reasons why they are preferred to obtain bioplastics. This research is an experimental study and the data of the research was collected using the observation technique. In the study, the efficiency of algae in absorbing carbon dioxide was measured and bioplastic was produced from algae. It has been observed how long it takes for bioplastic obtained from algae to decompose compared to the plastic used in our daily lives by leaving it in nature. Research results have shown that bioplastics made from algae decompose 1800 times faster in nature than the plastics used today. The results also showed that bioplastics made from algae are advantageous due to their high carbon dioxide absorption. Making bioplastics obtained from algae instead of petroleum-based plastics, which pose a serious problem in environmental pollution, seems promising for our planet.