Bamboo fiber-PLA composite materials for disposable food and beverages packaging tools: A brief review

Abstract

Disposable packaging tools such as cups/food containers have become popular and commonly used items in today's society as they offer simplicity, low cost, durability, and convenience for people in carrying/taking their foods. Most of these packaging tools are non-biodegradable products because their materials are mainly composed of plastics and/or their derivatives. Consequently, packaging tools have become one of the primary contributors to the earth's waste and global warming. Eco-friendly products can be defined as products that are safe and healthy for individuals and communities throughout their life cycle, which includes all processes from production to consumption and up to disposal. Current methods for developing eco-friendly products have mainly relied on using composites of different biodegradable materials that are chosen and combined in such a way that they can complement each other's weakness or drawback. One of these composites with the potential to replace and address the negative impacts caused by plastics products is the bamboo fiber-PLA (BF-PLA) composite. This paper is intended to briefly discuss the characteristics of as well as various important properties of such a BF-PLA composite to illustrate and motivate its potential future use as an alternative eco-friendly material for producing disposable packaging tools.