Disposable bamboo fiber meal boxes characterized by efficient preparation, excellent performance, and the potential for beneficial degradation

Abstract

Disposable plastic meal boxes account for a significant proportion of global plastic pollution, which has caused an increasingly urgent need for substitution with biodegradable plant fiber-molded meal boxes. Compared to other chemical-mechanical pulp pre-treatment methods, steam explosion is a more efficient and clean approach for the preparation of molded meal boxes. In this study, disposable bamboo fiber meal boxes made from steam-exploded pulp (SEP) were prepared using steam explosion. The results showed that the meal boxes prepared using this method had a compact interweaving structure, good tensile performance (with a tensile modulus 1.9 times higher than that of meal boxes prepared using chemical-mechanical pulp (CMP)), excellent water resistance (with a permeability 0.58 times lower than that of CMP), high compression strength, and excellent toughness. After being discarded, SEP was found to have no adverse effects on the soil pH or electrical conductivity (EC) during the degradation process. Furthermore, it could increase the levels of major nutrients for plant growth, such as N and P, improve the C/N ratio, enhance microbial activity, and improve soil fertility. Moreover, the CO2 release rate during the entire degradation process was found to be low. Thus, the bamboo fiber meal boxes developed in this study can alleviate the environmental pressure caused by the greenhouse effect, thereby achieving a green life cycle of highly efficient preparation, stable use, and beneficial degradation.