生物材料是生物基塑料和生物降解塑料的統稱。
( a)生物基塑料:即來源于可再生資源的塑料，與傳統塑料不同，生物基聚合物來源于可再生資源，例如:糖、淀粉、植物油、纖維素等。其中，玉米、甘蔗、谷物、木材是使用最普遍的原料。
(b)生物降解塑料:在自然界和土壤、沙士等條件下，或堆肥條件下、厭氧消化條件下、水性培植液中等，由自然界存在的微生物作用引起降解，并最終完成降解變成二氧化碳、水及其所含元素的礦化無機鹽以及新的生物質的塑料。
Bioplastics is a general term for biobased plastic and biodegradable plastic.
(a) Biobased plastic: Unlike traditional plastic, biobased plastic is derived from renewable resources, such as sugar, starch,vegetable oil, cellulose, etc. Among them, cor, sugarcane, grain and wood are the most common raw materials.
(b) Biodegradable plastic: Either under the conditions of nature, soil, sand, etc or the conditions of compost, anaerobic digestion, water-based culture medium, etc, microorganism from nature functions and causes the biodegradation. When the biodegradation is finished finally, it tums into carbon dioxide, water, elements-contained mineralized inoganic salt and new biobased plastics.
