Biodegradable plastics

thumb|Chocolates wrapped in cellophane Cellophane is a thin, transparent sheet made of regenerated cellulose. Its low permeability to air, oils, greases, bacteria, and liquid water makes it useful for food packaging. Cellophane is highly permeable to water vapour, but may be coated with nitrocellulose lacquer to prevent this.

polymer

water-soluble synthetic polymer

plastic that can be biodegraded

thumb|PCL beads, as sold for industrial or hobbyist use. Polycaprolactone (PCL) is a synthetic, semi-crystalline, biodegradable polyester with a melting point of about 60 °C and a glass transition temperature of about −60 °C. The most common use of polycaprolactone is in the production of speciality polyurethanes. Polycaprolactones impart good resistance to water, oil, solvent and chlorine to the polyurethane produced.

Polyglycolide or poly(glycolic acid) (PGA), also spelled as polyglycolic acid, is a biodegradable, thermoplastic polymer and the simplest linear, aliphatic polyester. It can be prepared starting from glycolic acid by means of polycondensation or ring-opening polymerization. PGA has been known since 1954 as a tough fiber-forming polymer. Owing to its hydrolytic instability, however, its use was slow to develop. Polyglycolide and its copolymers (poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) with lactic acid, poly(glycolide-co-caprolactone) with ε-caprolactone and poly (glycolide-co-trimethylene carbonate) with

thumb|right|200px|Structure of poly-(R)-3-hydroxybutyrate (P3HB), a polyhydroxyalkanoate

Zein ( ) is a class of prolamine protein found in maize. It is usually manufactured as a powder from corn gluten meal. Zein is one of the best understood plant proteins. Pure zein is clear, odorless, tasteless, hard, water-insoluble, and edible, and it has a variety of industrial and food uses.

thumb|Structure of poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid). x= number of units of lactic acid; y= number of units of [[glycolic acid.]] PLGA, PLG, or 'poly(lactic-co-glycolic) acid' (CAS: ) is a copolymer which is used in a host of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved therapeutic devices, owing to its biodegradability and biocompatibility. PLGA is synthesized by means of ring-opening co-polymerization of two different monomers: glycolide and lactide, the cyclic dimers (1,4-dioxane-2,5-diones) of glycolic acid and lactic acid, respectively. Polymers can be synthesized as either random or block cop

poly(p-dioxanone) structure|thumb|right Polydioxanone (PDO, PDS) or 'poly-p-dioxanone' is a colorless, crystalline, biodegradable synthetic polymer.