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The term organic is more inclusive than we think. BIOplastic and plastic are organic.

Writer's picture: Agostin LaurenzanoAgostin Laurenzano


“Both plastics are of biological origin, but there is a big difference. BIOplastics come from biomass in the environment. On the other hand, plastics of fossil origin come from biomass in which today their fossilized state prevails.”

I know this subtitle can be very enlightening for those who are familiar with this vocabulary, but I will try to be as clear as possible for those who are just starting out.


Both are originally biological

In the same way as I explain it on my website, the prefix BIO connotes “life”, “living beings”, “biology”. The use of this syllable today covers an intention in the world of marketing that is merely distinctive in order to position new materials on the market. However, speaking specifically about plastics, it is important to clarify that they all have a biological origin. The distinction is based on the fact that plastics of fossil origin depend on a resource that is not renewable since it is a geological biomass found many meters deep in the earth's crust. On the other hand, bioplastic has its origin in the biomass created daily, that is, a resource available in the biosphere, within our reach. All that nature can offer us is biomass, and we are biomass.

BIOplástico hecho con Goma Garrofín, con incrustaciones de vegetales deshidratados.
BIOplástico hecho con Goma Garrofín, con incrustaciones de vegetales deshidratados.

Both are organic

If we are clear that both are of biological origin, although one resource is more accessible than the other, we can understand that if we refer to the term “organic” formally, its meaning implies only the chemical composition of the matter. It is as simple as the sum of two elements of the periodic table that when joined together constitute the basis of life for each and every terrestrial organism. I am talking about the element carbon together with hydrogen.

A material, whether natural, synthetic or artificial, will always be organic if its chemical base is dominated by the elements carbon and hydrogen. It is clear that these synthetic and artificial forms can be organic because man is capable of replicating this formula C+H, but the way man formulates it does not replicate what is natural. Therefore it is organic, but not in BIO, because it cannot be integrated or form part of the world of biology.

To exemplify this similarity in elementary features, I explain that the polyethylene molecule is C2H4, one of the most widely used plastics in the world, and the glucose molecule is C6H12O6, one of the most available sugars in fruits.


Only one is BIOplastic

And this is where confusion arises, because one no longer knows what to take into account when calling a material BIO, whether it is because of its origin, its organic composition, or how it ends up at the end of its useful life. And it is clear that the world of advertising takes advantage of this lack of information to place the BIO prefix where it suits them best.

We have already made it clear that its composition depends on a purely scientific question and that this does not affect its categorization as organic and biological. If by BIO we mean that a material is sustainable, it must be clarified that any BIOplastic of fossil origin is wrongly categorized because even if they want to convince us that it is biodegradable, its origin is undeniably threatening for all of us and the environment. Nor will it be BIOplastic that is originally from local biomass, but that has gone through so many levels of synthesis that it is already unrecognizable to soil microorganisms to the point that it cannot be biodegraded.

We will say that a material is BIO because its entire cycle respects “life”. Its origin will be the use of resources from the environment, which implies ethical and environmentally friendly production. Its production will involve a level of synthesis of the material that will lead to its final return to the soil, to reconstitute the biomass as a previous instance of its next existence.

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