In the pursuit of a sustainable future, the research and commercialization of biopolymers offer a promising alternative for reducing our carbon footprint. Biopolymers derived from renewable resources offer an eco-friendly alternative to the conventional plastics, which are well-known for their negative influence on the environment. However, the path to widespread adoption of biopolymers is filled with multiple challenges on the technological, economic and societal dimensions.
BioLaMer project’s commitment to environmental sustainability and commercialization challenges has been presented at the 28th International Conference of the Association for People-Environment Studies (IAPS), which was held from 2-5 July,2024 at Barcelona, Spain.
BioLaMer team member Dr Catarina Possidonio, from HEI-Lab Human Environment Interaction Lab, Universidade Lusófona – Centro Universitário de Lisboa participated in this prestigious conference and presented the latest findings in the project under the topic “Consumer-environmental Sustainability: Exploring the multi-level challenges of biopolymer commercialization for a greener future”.
The talk mainly focused on highlighting the following key aspects;
- The critical challenges in the Biopolymer commercialization and production processes within biopolymer industry that includes technological limitations, cost factors and the issues associated with scaling up the production process from laboratory to industrial levels.
- Barriers to consumer acceptance in biopolymer technologies. This is mainly because of the lack of awareness about how these biopolymers can benefit the environment, the knowledge of effectiveness and durability of biopolymers compared to traditional plastics.
- To address these challenges and barriers, Potential solutions aiming at enhancing the adoption of these innovative technologies were discussed.
