bioplastic – The KGP Chronicle

Nov

16

2020

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Cucumber Peels for Ecofriendly Food Packaging

In-Depthbiodegradable, bioplastic, eco-friendly, Environmental engineering, Food engineering, food packaging, food technology, Food Waste, organic waste, packaging, plastic, plastic pollution, plastic waste, renewable

Are you throwing away the cucumber peels after preparing your salad? You may soon have them back in your kitchen as the eco-friendly packaging material for food items. IIT Kharagpur researchers have developed cellulose nanocrystals from cucumber peels with high cellulose content, compared to other peel wastes, which can be used to create food packaging materials. While single-use plastic is consciously being avoided by consumers, they still remain largely in circulation as food packaging items. Natural biopolymers are unable to make way in this industry as they lack strength, elongation, barrier property, optical property, and in some cases even biological…

How safe is your tea in a paper cup?

In-Depthbio hazard, biohazard, bioplastic, disposable paper cups, environment, Environmental engineering, Environmental Management, harmful substances, hazard, Hazardous Materials, heavy metals, hot water, microplastic, paper cup, plastic, plastic ban, plastic pollution, plastic waste, pollution

IIT Kharagpur Research Gives Evidence of Microplastic Pollution in the Hot Liquid Consumed from Disposable Paper Cups With the current crusade against single-use plastic, disposable paper cups are on the rise especially for consuming water and hot beverages. But even these cups are not without peril. Recent research by IIT Kharagpur has confirmed contamination of the hot liquid served in paper cups due to the degradation of microplastics and other hazardous components from the lining material of the cup. Paper cups are usually lined by a thin layer of hydrophobic film which is made of mostly plastic (polyethylene) and sometimes…

Taking charge

EventsAPSRT, biodegradable, bioplastic, Guru Nanak Institute of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology, IIT Kharagpur, non-renewable, plastic, polymer science

The International Conference on Advances in Polymer Science and Rubber Technology (APSRT) at IIT Kharagpur, organized by the Rubber Technology Centre from September 24-27, discussed what should be the future agenda for the world threatened by Climate Change. Plastics naturally figured prominently in the conference that mulled over how polymer science and the rubber industry had to focus intensively on driving innovation within the broad sustainability framework through waste prevention, re-use, repair, remanufacture and recycling. Prof. Thomas Kurian of the Cochin University of Science and Technology, for example, explained chemical recycling of PET bottles by a route based in aminolysis.…