Development and Properties of Disposable Plates Made of Cellulosic Pulp from Mango Agro-Industrial Waste

Abstract

Recent studies have shown that using conventional plastics to produce disposable tableware significantly impacts the environment. Alternatively, using cellulosic pulp from harnessing agro-industrial wastes, such as mango, provides a unique opportunity to create eco-friendly and biodegradable disposable tableware, a high-volume single-use item. Cellulosic pulp from the tegument of mango (cultivar Tommy Atkins) was successfully obtained by a semichemical pulping process to manufacture biodegradable plates. Refining times of 0, 5, 10, and 15 min were tested, and it was observed that a refining time of 10 min yielded a notably stronger material of 2.15 km in breaking length. Moreover, when the mango fibers were blended with pine fibers in a 70:30 (mango/pine) ratio, the material’s porosity significantly improved from 0 to 0.60 s/100 cc air. Alkyl ketene dimer at 1.5% was incorporated to impart water-resistant properties, changing the contact angle drop test from 0 to >120°. The biodegradation test indicated that the samples achieved a significant biodegradation level of 62.14 and 67.65 after 182 days of testing. The results demonstrated that the tegument from mango agro-industrial waste has the potential to be a source of cellulosic pulp to produce biodegradable and disposable tableware, contributing to the decrease in the use of conventional plastics.