Degradable biopolymers from agro and food waste: potentials and challenges

Abstract

The synthesis of biodegradable plastics from various biological resources has been receiving considerable interest in the past few years. The demand for petroleum-based plastics is increasing in day-to-day life. These plastics, in turn, are very hazardous since it is non-degradable and produced from harmful chemicals. Generally, disposing of solid waste is a great threat in highly populated countries like India. In particular, biodegradable waste from various sectors like agriculture, industries and domestic plays a major role in environmental threats and controlling such waste has been a great challenge to date. Hence, it is essential to give importance to waste management in various aspects which are having a greater impact on the environment. Such biologically treated waste has been found to have various organic materials from which biodegradable plastic can be synthesized. Biodegradable plastics are considered to be nature-friendly plastics synthesized from renewable biomass. The synthesis of biodegradable plastic from various biomaterials is the current and future technology in regulating the environmental threats caused by commercial plastics and waste being dumped in landfill. Hence, this review provides data about the importance of bio-based plastics from various biological waste resources and their applications in various fields.