4 - Effect of different polybutylene succinate (PBS)/starch formulation on food tray by thermoforming process

Abstract

Now were days food packaging sector has a major environmental impact, and alternative, more ecological materials are needed to replace synthetic polymer. Poly-butylene succinate and starch have been studied extensively in terms of their availability, appropriate food contact properties and competitive costs as potential substitutes for non-degradable petrochemical polymers. Plastic waste, which accounts for more than one third of plastics production, is the major concern in the food packaging industry today for disposable materials that are transformed into waste and increase plastic contamination worldwide problems. Food packaging aims at cost-effective food packaging that meets the demands of industry and consumer, safeguards food safety and minimizes environmental impacts. Packaging technology, however, needs to balance food safety with other concerns, including energy and material costs and environmental awareness, and with firm rules on pollutants and disposal municipal solid waste. The main objective of this paper is to provide state-of-the-art knowledge about the categories of biodegradable food packaging designs, to incorporate starch and to demonstrate properties of food packaging that include the transmission of oxygen and transmission of water vapor on surfaces of food packaging and thus prolong the shelf-life or enhance food safety.