Production of disposable takeaway food container from areca leaf sheath (ALS) as sustainable packaging material

Abstract

Areca leaf sheath has been used traditionally to produce disposable plates and bowls in India for decades. This project aims to produce disposable takeaway food containers by using the fallen Areca leaf sheath. In order to achieve the aim, a press mold is self-designed and fabricated, and installed into a disposable paper plate press machine to form the sheath into container shape. The density of the sheath is 0.423 g.cm-3 and 0.391 g.cm-3 before and after press respectively. The moisture content percentage obtained before heat press is 19.19%, while after press is 5.01%. The sheath at its sheath line direction shows higher stiffness, which is 416.9g.cm, compared to the perpendicular sheath direction of 65.1g.cm. The sheath has a water absorption rate of 0.021g.min-1, which fulfils the purpose of disposable food packaging to contain foods with soup or sauce.