A renewed interest in aliphatic polyesters has resulted in developing materials important in the biomedical and ecological fields. Some examples of novel polymers with inherent environmentally favorable properties such as renewability and degradability and a series of interesting monomers found in the metabolisms and cycles of nature are given.

Contributions by: A.-C. Albertsson, U. Edlund, M. Hakkarainen, S. Karlsson, Y. Liu, E. Ranucci, M. Ryner, M. Söderqvist Lindblad, K.M. Stridsberg, I.K. Varma