Istanbul Medeniyet University Sustainability Office organized a series of events in July 2022 to encourage and raise awareness about a plastic-free life and to help people acquire habits that will make a difference in their daily lives. Held by the Office at 15:00 on Wednesday, July 26, 2022 as part of “Plastic-Free July” and moderated by Prof.Dr. Yaşar BÜLBÜL, IMU Vice-Rector and Coordinator of the Sustainability Office, the event hosted Prof. Dr. Murat KAZANCİ, faculty member of IMU Biomedical Engineering Department, as the speaker.
In the online seminar «Manufacturing and Development of Ecofriendly Bioplastics as an Alternative to Petrochemical Products», which was open to public participation, the opening speech was delivered by Prof.Dr. Yaşar BÜLBÜL, who highlighted the need for educating the new generation about how to undo the human damage to the environment and his strong belief that in learning about the role of plastic in this damage and what its alternatives are, we will benefit a lot by listening to Prof.Dr. KAZANCİ, who has been working in this field for so long and developed important projects as alternatives to plastics.
In his presentation, Prof.Dr. Murat KAZANCİ provided information about various bioplastic materials manufactured from organic substances which can prevent plastic waste generation to reduce ecological footprint and be used as alternatives to plastics. He also discussed the potential contribution of bioplastic use to waste management process and ecological cycle by reducing pollution.
Prof.Dr. KAZANCİ first touched on the current situation in global plastic pollution, informing that an average of one trillion plastic bags are manufactured around the world each year and 79% of the plastics are non-recyclable. He cited Canada as the most successful country in recycling. He also noted that unrecycled plastics find their way to the seas and oceans, creating gigantic waste islands, like the one in the Pacific Ocean.
KAZANCİ then talked about the plastic industry in Turkey, informing that in this sector, there are currently 871 firms in Istanbul and 579 firms in the rest of the country; yet, we still lack satisfactory R&D activities, as a result of which foreign firms dominate the market in plastic products with added value or extra properties. As an example of value-added plastic products, he cited the plastic packaging particularly used in food industry with barrier effects and added properties that extend the shelf life of goods by preventing bacterial proliferation, an industry that is currently dominated by Israel.
For the plastic industry with a projected market size of US$29.7 billion by the year 2026, the governments decided in 2021 to make it an obligation to manufacture plastic products with a minimum of 20% bioplastic content. However, as KAZANCİ noted, this results in a considerable cost increase; for instance, the costs are three to four times higher in plastics produced from olive pits, which is the reason behind the currently nominal level of production.
KAZANCİ stated that manufacturing of vegetable-based plastics or biological polymers is recommended if we want to put an end to the environmental damage caused by plastics and such polymers which are easily accessible as they are amply found in nature and for which costs are relatively lower consist of cellulose or polysaccharides as the best alternative to petrochemical products. He noted that among them, seaweeds are a good option, arguably with the lowest cost, as these polysaccharide sources come at no cost and do not require any special care such as irrigation and fertilizing; yet, they are washed up on shore in summer and deposited as trash. He cited outdoor market wastes as the second biopolymer source, most of which are thrown away or at best left to decompose in soil as fertilizers but require intense labor to sort out. He underlined that as another significant cellulose source which is largely wasted, paper is also recyclable. Prof.Dr. KAZANCİ argued that agriculture is an important industry to generate resources for vegetable-based plastic production as exemplified by cannabis as an industrial plant that currently remains as an untapped resource for bioplastic manufacturing.
He reminded that there are certain preconditions for increasing bioplastic production, such as being able to meet the needs of the industry with reasonable costs, accessible raw materials, a controllable production process, standard production and products which offer all the qualities expected from plastics, and eco-friendly products with a long shelf life. Nevertheless, he emphasized that controlled degradation is required as these biodegradable products start to lose their properties in time as a result of humidity and bacterial activity. As for the main activities involved in the production process of bioplastics, KAZANCİ highlighted the importance of quality control in this process, noting that the final product should possess certain qualities such as meeting the resilience requirements and the ability to fully decompose in soil when composted.
In the following part of his presentation, Prof.Dr. KAZANCİ introduced the projects conducted in Istanbul Medeniyet University in bioplastic manufacturing and gave a few project examples from Turkey and around the world. In this context, he mentioned the project from a university in Netherlands where they use a 3D printer to manufacture various bioplastic products from seaweeds after granulation and the eco cannabis automobile. He noted that so far in our university, they have studied and obtained good results from mucilage on the sea bottom, cannabis, pineapple, parsley, and the shells of hazelnuts and walnuts. In this context, he informed the participants that fibers obtained from cellulose can be functionalized and special sports equipment can be manufactured using sponge-like structures with ultra-insulating properties that can absorb %90 air inside, for which they also have a project. He also told that our students have manufactured a bioprinter for tissue engineering and in their project, they converted the biological materials that have been dissolved by wet spinning method into fiber structures like collagen fibers, while in another project, they produced materials with novel properties by adding the protective sheaths of algae on fibers.
The seminar ended after a Q&A session with the participants.
