Biodegradable polymers, current trends of research and their applications, a review

Biodegradable polymers have been developing rapidly in the last years and are widely used today in the fields of pharmacy, clinical biomedicine, cosmetic, medical, and packing industries, tissue engineering, agriculture and other areas. The interest in biodegradable polymers has been increasing, mainly due to rising oil prices, which is the basic feedstock of plastic derived from petroleum, and also due to the problem of the removal of waste plastics that accumulate in the environment. Biodegradable polymers have many advantages in contrast to synthetic polymers and can be decomposed in the environment to non-hazardous substances. Biodegradable polymers are classified into two classes based on their synthesis, i.e., synthetic and natural polymers. They are derived either from petroleum resources or from biological resources. The following review presents an overview of the different biodegradable polymers and their properties, current scientific research, applications, global production of bioplastic and replacement of conventional plastic.