Sustainable Packaging Solution from Agriculture Waste: Production of Bioplastic, Biocomposite, Biopolymer

In recent decades, the depletion of natural resources and growing environmental concern has increased the desire to find innovative methods to manufacture environmentally friendly solutions. Sustainable food packaging can be a suitable alternative to reduce agricultural waste from the food industry. These agricultural wastes are inevitable products from the grain, sugarcane, dairy, fruit, and vegetable processing industries. These byproducts are major sources of cellulose, lignin, pectin, starch, chitin, alginates, hemicelluloses, etc. that can be processed into food packaging. The use of natural agricultural waste has become critical for the development of sustainable biopolymer-based composites. The properties of biocomposites, bioplastics, and biopolymers are influenced by the different extraction methods, processing conditions, and blending materials used. Bioplastics appear to address the food industry’s concerns over many packaging-related issues and appear to play an important role in the sustainability of the food industry, ensuring high quality throughout the production and transportation stages. It helps maintain standards, resulting in a cleaner and smarter delivery chain and waste management. This chapter provides an overview of the various biocomposites, bioplastics, and biopolymers that have been developed so far based on agricultural wastes from cereal residues, cereal milling byproducts, fruits, and vegetables. It also highlights the challenges and opportunities in developing sustainable biopolymer-based composites from agricultural waste biomass. The resulting packaging materials rich in cellulose, pectin, zein, and starch can protect the packaged food against microorganisms and oxidation. It was concluded that the development of sustainable packaging materials offers a promising path towards a greener future.