A new eco-friendly packaging material made of straw and bioplastic

Published: 13 October 2020
Abstract Views: 5179
PDF: 1834
HTML: 1959
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Authors

Packaging waste is cause for serious concern. Each year hundreds of millions of tons of packaging are produced, therefore solutions that drastically reduce their environmental impact are urgently needed. While the recycling of metal, wood, paper and cardboard packaging has been significantly improved, an efficient recycling or disposal of some plastics is not yet feasible. The European Union implemented various regulations concerning packaging and packaging waste and set some relevant short to medium-term targets for recycling and disposal rates. Over the last decade, the global trend of the eco-sustainable packaging market is heading in the same direction. The aim of this research is to develop an innovative and sustainable composite material for the production of tertiary packaging based on the combination of natural fibres and biodegradable biopolymers. In particular, the experimental application entailed the creation of prototypes consisting of a material made of straw and biodegradable plastic Mater-Bi© which is named NeoPalea. The new material was prototyped to verify its physical characteristics and to determine its potential use to replace current not-biodegradable packaging. The results show a good match with the characteristics of current polymers, suggesting that this material can be used as a potential substitute in packaging applications.

Dimensions

Altmetric

PlumX Metrics

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Citations

Babalis, A., Ntintakis, I., Chaidas, D., Makris, A. 2013. Design and Development of Innovative Packaging for Agricultural Products. Procedia Tech. 8: 575-579.
Bhattacharyya, P., Bhaduri, D., Adak, T., Munda, S., Satapathy, B.S., Dash, P.K., Padhy, S.R., Pattanayak, A., Routray, S., Chakraborti, M., Baig, M.J., Mukherjee, A.K., Nayak, A.K., Pathak, H. 2019. Characterization of rice straw from major cultivars for best alternative industrial uses to cutoff the menace of straw burning. Ind. Crops and Prod. 143: 111919.
Brodin, M., Vallejos, M., Opedal, M.T., Area, M.C., Chinga-Carrasco, G. 2017. Lignocellulosics as sustainable resources for production of bioplastics. A review. J. of Cleaner Prod. 16: 646-664.
Charriere, J.J. 1989. Composite article comprising a central core wrapped in a cover, and its uses. Patent number: EP 0345125A1.
Cherubini, F., Ulgiati, S.2010. Crop residues as raw materials for biorefinery systems - A LCA case study. Applied Energy 87 (1): 47-57.
CONAI, 2017 a. The Green Economy and Conai's contribution to the country system [in Italian]. Milan, Italy. Available from: http://www.conai.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Libro_3_La_-Green_Economy_e_il_contributo_di_Conai_al_sistema_Paese.pdf
CONAI, 2017 b. L'Economia Circolare in Italia: la voce delle aziende produttrici e utilizzatrici di imballaggi [in Italian]. Milan, Italy. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.33460.86402.
Conti, L., Dainelli, R., Pellegrini, P., Spugnoli, P., Bonotti, L. 2012. Study of sustainable agricultural supply chains for the production of construction straw bales - Preliminary results. Pp 239-250. In Proceedings of Rural building between technological development and protection of the territory, 2012, 20-22 September, Florence, Italy [in Italian].
Curling, S.F., Laflin, N., Davies, G., Ormondroyd, G.A., Elias, R.M. 2017. Feasibility of using straw in a strong, thin, pulp moulded packaging material. Ind. Crops and Prod. 97: 395-400.
Da Cruz, N.F., Ferreira, S., Cabral, M., Simões, P., Marques, R.C. 2014. Packaging waste recycling in Europe: Is the industry paying for it? Waste Manag. 34: 298–308.
Dahlbo, H., Poliakova, V., Myllari, V., Sahimaa, O., Anderson, R. 2018. Recycling potential of post-consumer plastic packaging waste in Finland. Waste Manag. 71: 52-61.
Eagan, S.A. 1996. Process and apparatus for forming a building block. Patent number: US 5507988A.
European Commitee for Standardization, 2002. DIN EN 13432 Requirements for Packaging Recoverable Through Composting and Biodegradation. Test Scheme and Evaluation Criteria for the Final Acceptance of Packaging.
European Commitee for Standardization, 2010. Plastics - Recommendation for terminology and characterization of biopolymers and bioplastics - CEN/TR 15932. Brussels.
E.V., BIOPLASTICS facts and figures, 2018. Avaliable from: www.european-bioplastics.org.
FAO. 2020. Crop Prospects and Food Situation - Quarterly Global Report No. 1, March 2020. Rome. Avaliable from: https://doi.org/10.4060/ca8032en.
Garrido, T., Etxabide, A., Leceta, I., Cabezudo, S., De La Caba, K., Guerrero, P. 2014. Valorization of soya by-products for sustainable packaging. J. of Cleaner Prod. 64: 228–233.
Kelin, M. 2012. Method for producing bricks and prefabricated parts used for building by utilizing weeds and crop straw. China patent CN 102328336A.
Masciandaro, G., Bianchi, V., Macci, C., Peruzzi, E., Doni, S., Ceccanti, B., Iannelli, T. 2010. Ecological and Agronomical Perspectives of Vermicompost Utilization in Mediterranean Agro-ecosystems. Dynamic Soil, Dynamic Plant 4: 76-82.
Meeks, D., Hottle, T., Bilec, M.M., Landis, A.E. 2015. Compostable biopolymer use in the real world: Stakeholder interviews to better understand the motivations and realities of use and disposal in the US. Resources, Cons. and Recyc. 105: 134–142.
Nordin, N., Selke, S. 2010. Social aspect of sustainable packaging. Pack. Tech. and Science 23: 317-326.
Ruskey, J.A. 2005. Culm blocks. Patent number: US 6951080B2.
Russo, G., Verdiani, G. 2013. Production and reuse of waste in rural area with high density of greenhouse. Journal of Agricultural Engineering, XLIV (s2):e48P: 240-246.
Shezhang, G. 2013. Oriented structural straw board and preparation method. Patent number: CN 103448107A.
Svanes, E., Void, M., Müller, H., Pettersen, M.K., Larsen, H., Hanssen, O.J. 2010. Sustainable packaging design: A holistic methodology for packaging design. Pack. Tech. and Science 23: 161-175.
Tencati, A., Pogutz, S., Moda, B., Brambilla, M., Cacia, C. 2016. Prevention policies addressing packaging and packaging waste: Some emerging trends. Waste Manag. 56: 35-45.
Wikström, F., Williams, H., Verghese, K., Clune, S. 2014. The influence of packaging attributes on consumer behaviour in food-packaging life cycle assessment studies - A neglected topic. J. of Cleaner Prod. 73: 100-108.
Yongli, G., Haitao, L., Shuheng, L., Jingwen, S., Shiwen, S., Qisheng, Z. 2014. Bamboo scrimber straw brick, bamboo laminated wood straw brick and preparing method thereof. Patent number: CN 103538138A.

How to Cite

Rossi, G. . (2020) “A new eco-friendly packaging material made of straw and bioplastic”, Journal of Agricultural Engineering, 51(4), pp. 185–191. doi: 10.4081/jae.2020.1088.

Similar Articles

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 > >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.