Canadian Geographic magazine spoke with Prof. Amar K. Mohanty, OAC Distinguished Research Chair in Sustainable Biomaterials, on some of the limitations of bioplastics.

The article noted that many see bioplastics as the solution to our ever-growing plastic problem and Mohanty agreed that bioplastics are better for the sustainable carbon cycle. But he added biodegradable plastic is not be biodegradable in every environment, and the material needs to end up in the right place at the end of its life so that it can degrade properly.

Mohanty is the director of the Bio-Products Discovery and Development Centre (BDDC) and focuses on engineering new sustainable materials and innovations in bioproducts to reduce society’s use of fossil fuels for mitigating climate change.