Fruit and Vegetable Wastes as Potential Component of Biodegradable Plastic

Abstract

Plastic is a material that is very useful to every individual. Commercially plastics that are often used nowadays are petroleum based polymers which take longer years to degrade. These plastics when burned have a negative impact to human and to the environment. They have also detrimental effect to the marine and other aquatic lives when disposed to oceans and other bodies of water. Due to the increasing plastic waste all over the world, researchers are seeking for an alternative that can pass the requirements to be called biodegradable. This study utilized   fruit and vegetable wastes as a component in making biodegradable plastic and used additives such as:  polyvinyl alcohol as binder, glycerin as plasticizer, soya oil as stabilizer and 5 ml glacial acetic acid. Different formulations were carried out. The products produced were subjected into different tests such as: biodegradability test, chemical solubility test, air test and tensile stress test and were compared to one another. The tests conducted suggest that Formulation 5, which contains 100 g powdered peels, has the largest tensile stress indicating that it has the most tensile strength with considerable biodegradation and chemical solubility.