Production of Single-Use Tableware Products from Bagasse

Abstract

This study aims to utilize bagasse waste produced from the sugar cane industry to manufacture single-use tableware such as plates and cups as a potential alternative to Styrofoam and plastic cups and containers. This will reduce the environmental hazardous results from packaging products. Unlike traditional plastics and Styrofoam which can take hundreds of years and require high temperature to degrade, these eco-friendly containers from bagasse take approximately 60 days to degrade and break down. In this research, potato peel starch and glycerol were added to bagasse pulp to improve both surface wetting and flexure properties and facilitate the thermoforming manufacturing process. Experimental results showed 3% of Alkyl ketene dimer (AKD) enhanced the water-resistance of the manufactured bagasse containers.