A team of scientists, from the University of Bath's Department of Chemistry and Institute for Sustainability have found a way to create two of the world's most common painkillers, paracetamol and ibuprofen, out of a compound found in pine trees, one which is also a waste product from the paper industry.
This has been one of the advantages of petroleum: the ability to make the same or similar product without concerns like this. Latex, for example.
It looks like this specific process has a lot more going on compared to latex but your question is valid and would need to be addressed.