(501g) Biodegradable Composite Films from Carbohydrate Rich Food Waste Streams: Physicochemical Properties, Scale up Production, and Biodegradability

Plastic waste pollution in the environment has become a growing concern worldwide, which opened a new demand and market for biodegradable and/or compostable films to be used as single-use packaging across applications such as food and beverage, healthcare, personal care, and consumer goods. Developing suitable packaging materials from bioderived and biodegradable materials will create a more sustainable and cost-effective circular economy and alleviate the plastic accumulation problem in receiving environments. End-of-life testing of plastic materials in both natural (e.g., fresh water and soil) and engineered environments (e.g., composting and landfill facilities) is a great tool to estimate the fate of these plastics, hence identifying their persistence and the suitable pathways for their disposal.

This study aims to improve existing formulations and food waste extraction methods to synthesize and produce alternatives to single-use food packaging that are not degradable. We used banana and potato food waste extracts to synthesize new biodegradable blend films with chitosan, a film-forming polysaccharide extracted from crab and shrimp shells. These films showed good thermal stability up to 200 °C, elasticity with elongation up to 121%, and water vapor permeation properties comparable to chitosan films. These biofilms reached more than 50% biodegradation in freshwater, soil, and compost environments within 45–90 days and their estimated lifetimes in these environments range 90–260 days. We were able to scale up the production of these blend films to 10 L per batch using a bench top pilot-scale tape casting machine. The properties of blend films prepared at different production scales are compared. With excellent biodegradability in receiving environments and physicochemical properties needed for single-use applications, new films have great potential for single-use packaging applications.