Sustainable Packaging Material Using Natural Fibre Composite to Replace Plastics in Apparel Retail Store

Abstract

Areca nut is the fruit produced from the palm trees of South East Asia. India is the largest consumer and producer of areca nuts in the world. Areca fibres are thrown as waste after harvesting nuts, so they can be converted into useful products. Here, an attempt was made to make cloth hangers using areca fibre composites and can be used as a replacement for plastic hangers. A thermally bonded sheet was made into courier package lining. These areca fibre-based products have better biodegradability when compared to other plastic hangers and packaging materials. The tests for the hanger and courier envelope were done. The hanger has a better compression strength of about 22.3kN and very good tensile and flexural strength.