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Turns cassava starch into biodegradable bags
In addition to the ability to completely biodegrade; plastic bags made from tapioca starch have similar properties compared to conventional plastic bags.
In mid-2018, scientists of Polymer and Composite Key Laboratory, Hanoi University of Science and Technology announced that they had initially mastered the technology of making plastic bags made from Vietnamese cassava starch at the laboratory scale. More importantly, in addition to the ability to completely biodegrade; the product also has properties comparable to conventional plastic bags.
Decomposes in a few months
Information that Vietnamese scientists have mastered the technology of producing biodegradable plastic bags made from cassava starch, made me a consumer, so excited and hopeful. Dr. Nguyen Chau Giang; co-author of the study of cassava starch-based plastic bags, made an appointment with me in the laboratory so that I could get an overview of the research work of her and the students. The plastic bag blowing machine and 2-screw extruder for making biodegradable plastic particles from cassava starch are placed in the middle of the room, occupying most of the area, surrounded by plastic bags, tapioca starch. The process of making biodegradable plastic granules from cassava starch is not simple; however, because starch is a natural polymer with very low mechanical properties; but it can be done on rosin processing equipment. Typically, are commonly used in the plastic industry today.
“The biodegradable plastic bags are made from two main components: biodegradable polyester resin and tapioca starch. These are two materials that are completely incompatible with each other like oil and water. To produce plastic bags; it is necessary to study how to denote starch as well as adding compatible auxiliaries, additives … so that these two materials can work well together to form self-resetting plastic resins. decompose, then put into blow to produce plastic bags.
Decomposable polyester resins must be imported from abroad, while cassava starch is cheap and easy to find, ”said Dr. Nguyen Chau Giang. The product is a result of a ministerial-level research project, conducted over 2 years.
The amount of cassava flour used in producing this type of bag accounts for about 30%; the rest is biodegradable polyester resin and other additives. The most distinctive and expected feature of the product is its ability to completely biodegrade. According to experiments performed, depending on the conditions and environment; plastic bags can decompose in a few months. Post-biodegradable products are CO2, water and biomass. The latter decomposes well for plants, does not affect the environment. Regarding criteria such as durability, toughness of cassava starch plastic bags are almost equivalent to those of PE plastic bags.
I wonder why it is cassava starch and not other starches? Dr. Nguyen Chau Giang said that, in principle; any starch can be used, but cassava starch in Vietnam is cheap, easy to find, so it is the optimal choice.
Self-destruct bags do not biodegrade
Currently in some supermarkets, markets, self-destruction plastic bags are also used quite a lot. Dr. Vu Minh Duc said that the nature of these biodegradable bags is completely different from the biodegradable bags from cassava starch; because these biodegradable bags still use non-biodegradable PE. The reason is that in the process of blowing bags; people add additives to the PE plastic that they can decay faster. That is, outside the environment; these plastic bags will be puffed out, decay faster, but the plastic components still do not disappear but accumulate in the environment in the form of microplastic (microplastic) of very small size. And biodegradable bags of cassava starch are the opposite; after decomposition, the final product is CO2, water, biomass, without negatively affecting the environment and ecosystem.
A good product for the environment, should be encouraged to use as biodegradable plastic bags from tapioca, how are businesses welcomed? Dr. Nguyen Chau Giang said, after the press reported, there are many businesses seeking to ask for information, but up to now, it has not been “anywhere”.
“If I work in science, the strength is research, if I want to commercialize the research results, I need to coordinate with businesses and at the same time with the support of the State in terms of policies and wallets. For example, there are incentives for some taxes on these eco-friendly but costly products. I myself researched, never wanted to put the subject in a drawer; but my strength could not afford to research from the production to the product.
As for businesses, they have to consider many factors including profitability. While normal plastic bags cost only about 30,000 – 40,000 VND / kg, self-decomposing plastic bags from cassava starch is much higher, sometimes twice. If they have no output, no assistance from the State, they cannot commercialize this product in the domestic market, ”added Dr. Nguyen Chau Giang.
Must find a more optimal formula
Since the successful research and development of self-biodegradable plastic bags from cassava starch, it has been a few months; but never before, scientists in the lab sat and let the machines “cool”. By the authors said, do not want to just stop there. How to find the most optimal formula, produce the best products, can be deployed on an industrial scale is always the concern of scientists.
Dr. Vu Minh Duc, co-author said that in Europe, there is a tendency in the near future to use biodegradable bags products with higher natural content (bio). But how to increase the bio content while ensuring the physical and chemical indicators of the product such as toughness, durability, strength, as well as heat resistance, other conditions. Therefore, the testing work continues, by changing the index, composition, content, denaturation method … to produce the most optimal product possible.
So even though the research topic was initially successful in the lab; the scientists did not close it, do not put it in the drawer but still pored, continue to find possible directions. The authors hope that one day; they will see their products available in every supermarket, market, store, in every housewife’s basket. In the immediate future, it is still the expectation of scientists to continue researching and perfecting this work by developing this task to become a state-level project.
Only when there is funding to carry out more in-depth studies will we be able to commercialize the products in a broader way; bringing cassava starch plastic bags to replace current non-degradable plastic bags.
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