Bioplastics are
plastics derived from renewable
biomass sources, such as
vegetable fats and oils,
corn starch, or
microbiota. Bioplastic can be made from agricultural byproducts and also from used plastic bottles and other containers using microorganisms. Common plastics, such as
fossil-fuel plastics (also called petrobased polymers), are derived from
petroleum or
natural gas. Production of such plastics tends to require more fossil fuels and to produce more
greenhouse gases than the production of biobased polymers (bioplastics). Some, but not all, bioplastics are designed to
biodegrade. Biodegradable bioplastics can break down in either anaerobic or aerobic environments, depending on how they are manufactured. Bioplastics can be composed of
starches,
cellulose,
biopolymers, and a variety of other materials.