Food Waste Bioplastic

Cho, Wai Lok (2021) Food Waste Bioplastic. Final Year Project (Bachelor), Tunku Abdul Rahman University College.

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Abstract

Bioplastic was the biodegradable plastic that derived from renewable biomass material which has the potential to replace petroleum-based plastic based on their biodegradable property. Food waste such as fruit peel, agricultural waste, and fruit seed can be used as the raw material to synthesize bioplastic and thus able to reuse the food waste and also decrease the pollution issue that is caused by petroleum-based plastic. This study aims to investigate the potential food waste that can be used as the raw material for bioplastic and also study the effect of filler or additives on the properties of bioplastic. Many researchers had conducted different studies on the use of various types of filler and additives on the mechanical strength, biodegradability and water absorption properties on food waste bioplastic. Plasticizer was a common and important additive to improve the flexibility of bioplastic and prevent it to become too brittle. Next, microcrystalline cellulose was also used to improve the mechanical properties as intermolecular hydrogen bonding will be formed between starch and cellulose molecules which will increase the tensile strength and decrease the elongation at break value. Besides, zinc oxide also can be used as an antimicrobial compound to increase the biodegradable time and prolong the lifespan of bioplastic. Among all the studies conducted by previous researcher, the bioplastic with the highest tensile strength value was bioplastic from CMC that was extracted from pineapple peel which believed to be suitable for the replacement of polyethylene as a container. While most of the bioplastic was able to biodegrade within one month depending on the additive that was added.