Beyond Petroplastics
Expert Insights on Biobased and Biodegradable Material Substitutes and Alternatives to Conventional Plastics
The Global Plastics Treaty represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to redesign how the world produces, uses, and disposes of plastic materials. But to be effective, the treaty must go beyond reducing production volumes and improving waste collection. It must actively support the transition to safer, more sustainable material systems, and ensure that transition is done right.
Biobased and biodegradable materials (BBMs), including polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), cellulose, starch, and other bio-derived polymers, are gaining serious momentum as alternatives to conventional petroplastics. Governments across the world have already taken meaningful steps to enable their adoption, particularly in sectors where harmful substances and microplastics risk entering the food chain, such as agriculture, aquaculture, and food-contact packaging. The evidence base for their potential is growing. But switching materials is not enough on its own.
This expert guide, developed by independent scientists for the INC5.2 treaty negotiations, makes the case that material substitution must be paired with a rigorous design methodology from the outset. The Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) framework, developed by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre, provides exactly that. It requires that any new material, including BBMs, be evaluated across its full life cycle for safety, environmental impact, social value, and economic viability, before it is scaled. This proactive approach is the safeguard against repeating the mistakes of conventional plastics, where harmful additives, chemical leaching, and end-of-life failures were discovered only after widespread adoption.
The guide addresses four interconnected dimensions of responsible BBM adoption:
Chemical safety. Bio-based does not automatically mean safe. BBMs can contain additives and processing chemicals that carry similar risks to those found in conventional plastics. Full chemical transparency is needed from the start.
End of life. BBMs offer a genuinely broader range of options than conventional plastics, from mechanical recycling and composting to anaerobic digestion. Biodegradability works best as a safety net for unavoidable environmental leakage, not as a primary disposal route.
Standards and certification. Harmonized, application-specific testing is essential to verify claims, build trust across the value chain, and prevent greenwashing.
Design. SSbD is not a compliance exercise but the foundation for materials that are genuinely better for people and the planet.
Reducing plastic use and improving recycling remain essential. But alongside them, designed substitution with safer, bio-based materials, guided by science, transparency, and a full-lifecycle perspective, is a critical part of the solution. The treaty is the moment to make that combination the global standard.