Monitoring the biogenic fraction of sugarcane-based plastic bags
2019
Santos, Juliana F.P. | Macario, Kita D. | Jou, Renata M. | Oliveira, Fabiana M. | Cardoso, Renan P. | Diaz, Maikel | Anjos, Roberto M. | Alves, Eduardo Q.
For environmental reasons, the production of plastic from renewable sources is gaining importance worldwide. In the case of polyethylene made from sugarcane-based ethanol, Brazil, being the world leader in sugarcane production, plays a fundamental role. Nevertheless, the absence of national regulations for monitoring the manufacturing process or verifying the biogenic fraction of what is already on the market raises concerns in Brazil. The main reason for the lack of such regulations is that the only approach fully capable of distinguishing identical chemical compounds of biogenic or fossil origin is the measurement of radiocarbon concentrations using an expensive and time-consuming method. Nevertheless, the measurement of stable carbon isotopes ratios has proven to be an acceptable approach to distinguish between C4 plant-derived plastics and petroleum-derived plastics. The present study compares the potential of the conventional mass spectrometry and radiocarbon accelerator mass spectrometry techniques as tools to determine the biogenic fraction of green polyethylene in Brazil. For plastics derived from either corn or sugarcane sources, δ¹³C values less negative than −20‰ indicate biofractions of 51% or higher. Other values would indicate the need to follow up to the radiocarbon accelerator mass spectrometry measurement, since it would not be possible to distinguish between lower biofractions and the presence of wheat or soy. The conventional mass spectrometry method can be employed for the preliminary screening of bio-based materials in manufacturing industries, representing a relatively cheap and accessible way of inspecting these products in developing countries.
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