PRODUCTION OF BIOPLASTIC USING BANANA PEEL

PRODUCTION OF BIOPLASTIC USING BANANA PEEL

 

ABSTRACT

 In this study, a small-scale laboratory bioplastic was synthesized and investigated using banana peel as raw material. The effect of HCL concentrations, concentrations of Glycerol, drying temperature, and residence time for hydrolysis were analyzed. The design of the experiment for response surface methodology (RSM) was used to analyze and optimize the simultaneous effect of HCl concentration (4%, 12%, 20% v/w), Glycerol concentration (4%, 8%, 12% v/w), drying temperature (40C, 50C, 60C) and Residence time of (5, 15, 25 minutes). A four-factor and three-level Box-Behnken design was used to develop a statistical model to describe the relationship between the physical and mechanical properties of banana peel-based biofilm and the chosen independent variables and to optimize the production parameters of banana peel-based biofilm. The model was statistically significant (p ˂0.0001). A relatively good quality bioplastic with 9.348MPA of tensile strength, 13.523% Elongation at break, 62.883% water absorption and 48.388% biodegradability was synthesized at optimum parameters of 52.424C temperature, HCl concentration of (2.937ml HCl/25g of banana peel), glycerol concentration of (2.096ml of glycerol/25g of banana peel) and 14.50 minutes of residence time for hydrolysis with high value of combined desirability (95.1%). Validation of the statistical model showed an insignificant difference between experimental and model-predicted results. After analyzing the results of the primarily synthesized bioplastic, a new modified bioplastic was produced with 27 % improved water/moisture absorption using Calcium carbonate as filler at the optimum conditions from the earlier experiments. 

 Keywords: Banana peel based Bioplastic, Banana peel, Substrate, Hydrolysis                                                  

 

CHAPTER ONE

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background

The term “plastic” is derived from the Greek word “plastikos” meaning fit for molding, and “plastos” meaning molded. It refers to the material‟ ‘s malleability or plasticity during manufacture that allows it to be cast, pressed, or extruded into a variety of shapes, such as films, fibers, plates, tubes, bottles, boxes, and much more. Plastic is the general common term for a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials used in a vast, and growing, range of applications. (Orezzoli et al., 2018)

Plastics are derived from organic products, the same as wood, paper, or wool. The materials used in the production of plastics are natural products such as cellulose, coal, natural gas, salt, and, of course, crude oil. (Orezzoli et al., 2018)

The two major processes used to produce plastics are called polymerization and polycondensation, and they both require specific catalysts. In a polymerization reactor, monomers like ethylene and propylene are linked together to form long polymer chains. Each polymer has its properties, structure, and size depending on the various types of basic monomers used. (Gironi & Piemonte, 2011)

Due to their relatively low cost, ease of manufacture, versatility, and imperviousness to water, plastics are being used all over the world; From drinking cups and disposable silverware to parts for automobiles and motorcycles and they are continuing to rise. As a result, they make up about 20% of volume waste per year currently and their lack of degradation is another environmental trepidation.  But since plastics are vital to people‟’s everyday lives, the production of biodegradable plastics to make plastics more compatible with the environment is necessary. (Gironi & Piemonte, 2011)

The first known bio-based plastic, polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) was discovered in 1926 by a French researcher, Maurice Lemoigne, His work demonstrated the biodegradability of PHB with the bacterium Bacillus megaterium. The significance of Lemoigne‟ ‘s discovery was overlooked for many decades, in large part because, at the time, petroleum was inexpensive and abundant. The petroleum crisis of the mid-1970s brought renewed interest in finding alternatives to petroleum-based products. (Gironi & Piemonte, 2011)

Global plastics production increased by 10 million tons (3.7%) to around 280 million tons in 2011 and continued the growth pattern that the industry has enjoyed since 1950 approximately by 9% per annum. Today, climate change and energy shortage are key global challenges. Plastics account for approximately 5% of worldwide oil consumption. The industry continues to look for new ways to lower the amount of oil used to produce plastics, which means finding alternative raw materials to meet environmental challenges. (Orezzoli et al., 2018)

Bioplastics are not a single kind of polymer but rather a family of materials that can vary considerably from one another. There are three groups in the bioplastics family, each with its own characteristics. Those three groups include bio-based or partially bio-based nonbiodegradable plastics such as bio-based Polyethylene(PE), Propylene(PP), or Polyethylene terephthalate(PET); Bio-based and biodegradable Plastics both such as Polylactic acid (PLA) and Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) or Polybutylene succinate(PBS) and fossil-based and biodegradable plastics such as Polybutylene adipate terephthalate(PBAT). (Zhou_Huijuan,2016)

Bio-based plastics are plastics derived from renewable biomass sources, such as vegetable fats and oils, cornstarch, potato starch, cassava starch, banana peel starch, pea starch, or microbiota. (Orezzoli et al., 2018) Although there are many different types of bio-based plastics starch-based bioplastics are the most common types specifically corn starch. Corn is a good source of starch for bio-based plastics, however; in developing countries like Ethiopia, agro-industrial residues such as banana peel and orange peel are cheaper and more ideal sources of substrates for starch-based bioplastics.

Dessert banana and plantain (Musa sp.) are the fourth most important staple food crops in the world after rice, wheat, and maize.  World production of bananas is about 106,541,709.00 tons. For many African, Asian, and Latin American countries, banana is also one of the most important crops for foreign exchange incomes (Woldu et al., 2015)

Dessert banana is also the major fruit crop that is most widely grown and consumed in Ethiopia. It is cultivated in several parts where the growing conditions are favorable; Especially in the south and southwestern parts of the country. In Ethiopia banana covers about 59.64% of the total fruit area, about 68.00% of the total fruits produced. Gamo-Gofa, Bench-Maji, and Sheka zones are among the significant banana-producing zones of the SNNPRS, of which Gamo-Gofa zone alone covers over 70% of the total banana marketed across the significant market outlets in Ethiopia (Woldu et al., 2015)

Despite the above-stated facts and the concerted effort being made by the government of Ethiopia to promote and diversify its agricultural outputs as well as exports at large, the attention given to banana peels in terms of research, disposal method, and overall the banana waste value-chain management has been very limited. In most parts of the country, banana peels are disposed of simply in the street which is easily rubbishing the environment.

Figure1-1: Local Banana Peels Disposed in the Street (Israel et al., 2015)

The application of banana peel as a raw material in bioplastic production has a dual benefit for waste management in developing countries such as Ethiopia. According to Xinhua reports from 2017 Ethiopia has a firm stand on maintaining the society‟ ‘s health and environment from pollution caused by petroleum-based plastics as Deyasa Leta the then deputy director of the Chemical and Construction Industries Development Institute at the Ethiopia Ministry of Industry (MoI) said the different measures such as closing three factories when they were found to be producing less than 0.3-milligram weight of plastic bags, a measurement deemed to be toxic to Ethiopia’s environment is part of Ethiopia’s desire to maintain the society’s health and the country’s environment with the country’s need to generate job and revenue for the country and in a situation like this agro-industrial residue based biodegradable plastics are highly desirable. (Yan, 2017)

Bio-based plastics have experienced fast growth in the past decade thanks to public concerns over the environment, climate change, and the depletion of fossil fuels. Bio-based plastics account for around 1% of global plastics production. They have experienced rapid growth over the last decade. In 2011, bio-based polyethylene beverage bottles, yogurt pots, and hair care packaging became widely available. This perspective provides an overview of the current global market of bio-based plastics, their material properties, technical substitution potential, and the future market (for 2020). The global capacity of bio-based plastics is expected to reach 3.45 million metric tons in 2020 and Starch plastics, PLA, bio-based polyethylene, and Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) are major types of bio-based plastics in the future. (Gironi & Piemonte, 2011)

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Synthetic polymers make up about 20% of volume waste per year globally (Gironi & Piemonte, 2011) and due to their hydrocarbon chain, they are not biodegradable or fully breakdown in landfills which normally takes 500 years and cause the loss of another irreplaceable resource, landfill.

On the other hand, banana covers about 68.00% of the total fruits produced in Ethiopia. (Woldu et al., 2015) With the high demand and increase in daily consumption of bananas, there is a high waste accumulation of banana peel from households, agricultural areas, and industrial areas, which are typically used as animal feed, incinerated, or go to landfill sites. However, incineration is an expensive disposal method and causes air pollution, and using landfills for a material that has many uses such as in bioplastic production is not economically feasible. Therefore this research it was attempted to address this problem and produced a bioplastic using waste waste-to-waste approach from banana peels.

Many studies have been made on the application of banana peel as a raw material for bioplastic but Some related effects of process parameters such as temperature, concentration of HCl and glycerol, and hydrolysis residence time on the quality and flexibility of the bioplastic wasn‟t addressed enough. Mainly the drying temperature of the banana peel starch-based bioplastic has been held at excessively high temperatures and shorter time in most of the research and as it can be observed from the result although a bioplastic with higher tensile strength can be produced with that approach the elasticity of the bioplastic has been compromised and has been attempted to improve its elasticity by application of excess plasticizer which is not economically feasible and has its effect on water absorbing of the bioplastic and relatively it exhibits a brittle characteristic. Therefore it was an attempt to address the effect of those process parameters and optimize them in a way that enables the production of good-quality bioplastic.

 

1.3 Objective  

1.3.1 General Objective

• To synthesize, characterize, and optimize banana peel-based bioplastic

1.3.2 Specific Objective 

• To investigate the effect of process variables (drying temperature, acid concentration, concentration of glycerol, and residence time for hydrolysis) during the hydrolysis of amylopectin
• To optimize operating process variables specifically acid concentration, concentration of glycerol, drying temperature, and residence time for hydrolysis
• To investigate the characteristics of the synthesized bioplastics produced (FTIR test, Tensile strength, elongation at break water absorption, and biodegradability of the produced biofilm)
• To investigate the effects of the concentration of the added filler (calcium carbonate) on the water/moisture absorption of resynthesized bioplastics
  • Significance of the Study

This study has two main benefits which can be applied in practical experiments as guidance and as input for further research. Its practical benefit includes the application of the optimized process parameters gained from this research to synthesize an improved quality of bioplastic from banana peel and it can be used as a base for scale-up production of banana peel-based bioplastic. The other benefit includes using this research as an input for other research. It can be used as a base for research focused on ways to improve the quality of bioplastic and research that focuses on the areas of bioplastic production from waste in general.

• Scope of the Study

This research generally covers lab-scale synthesis of bioplastics from banana peel It includes a collection of banana peels from a juice house, pre-treatment of banana peel using anti-oxidant Sodium metabisulfite, synthesis of bioplastic by breaking down the branched structure of banana peel known as amylopectin through hydrolysis at different parameter values to determine the optimum values of the process. Determining the model equation and hence the optimum conditions (drying temperature, concentration of HCL acid, glycerol concentration, and residence time for hydrolysis). It also covers the characterization of the synthesized biofilm using the FTIR test, Tensile strength, Elongation at break, water absorption, and biodegradability. This research also covers the synthesis of a newly modified bioplastic using CaCO₃ as filler to improve the quality of the bioplastic and the effects of the filler concentration on Water/moisture absorption of the synthesized bioplastic have also been analyzed.

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