Biocompatibility is a general term describing the property of a material being compatible with living tissue. Biocompatible materials do not produce a toxic or immunological response when exposed to the body or bodily fluids.
Chemically identical to their petrochemical counterpart, but made from renewable resources. Examples include bio–PE, bio-PET, bio-propylene, bio-PP, and biobased nylons. Easy to implement using existing infrastructure. However, as they are chemically identical to their fossil-based counterparts, it also means they share their properties. So, if the counterpart is non-biodegradable, the bio-based is non biodegradable as well.
“Food grade plastic” is best defined as food safe plastic. The term refers to any plastic suitable for contact with consumable food or drink products. As some acidic foods or liquids can leach chemicals from their containers, it is important that they are stored in appropriate containers.
Materials produced from renewable biomass sources, such as vegetable fats and oils, corn starch, straw, wood-chips, sawdust, recycled food waste, etc. Superficially, it is similar to conventional petrochemical-based plastics. It has the distinct advantage of degrading to nontoxic products.
Starch is one of the most promising natural polymers because of its inherent biodegradability, overwhelming abundance and annual renewability. Starches offer a very attractive low cost base for new biodegradable polymers due to their low material cost and ability to be processed with conventional plastic processing equipment.
Synthetic petroleum based plastic made from gasoline, kerosene, and oils including: Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE), Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE), Polypropylene (PP) and Polystyrene (PS).