After 16 weeks in seawater, bioplastic straws made of foam broke down at least twice as fast as the solid versions. Credit: Adapted from ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering 2024, DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.3c07391
Plastic straws in marine ecosystems not only mar the beauty of beaches but also threaten turtles and seabirds. As a result, there is a growing preference for biodegradable or compostable alternatives., certain commercially available bioplastic and paper straws can break down in coastal ocean systems within eight to 20 months, and opting for foam straws could significantly accelerate this process.
While the next generation of bioplastics, such as cellulose diacetate and polyhydroxyalkanoates , may be able to meet both requirements, little is known about how long products made of these materials last in the ocean before fully degrading compared to other materials. So, Bryan James, Collin Ward and colleagues conducted experiments using real seawater to investigate the environmental lifetimes of different straws and to find a way to accelerate the breakdown of next-generation bioplastics.