Bioplastics, as Seen by University Students

Abstract

The study focuses on the issue of bioplastics from a societal perspective. The surveyed group were students of bachelor and master programs of the University of Chemical Technology Prague, the aim was to map the awareness of bioplastics within the group of university students specialized in chemistry in the Czech Republic. The influence of gender and environmental education on decision making was also investigated. It showed that gender influences decision-making on environmental issues, with women giving more weight to sustainability and zero-waste bioplastics, as well as to the potential positive impact of bioplastics on climate change and water pollution reduction. Men are more pragmatic in their decision-making, giving more priority to material and economic aspects. In the case of the influence of vocational education, environmental students showed a greater tendency towards sustainable behaviour. However, given the small sample of environmental respondents, this hypothesis needs to be confirmed by further research.