Fabrication of bio-plastic composite pellets from agricultural waste and food waste

This study aims to produce starch bioplastic pellets from food waste such as potato peels. Measuring the ease of flow of the melt is crucial for producing these pellets. The melt flow index (MFI) is measured in this study to evaluate the consistency of the produced pellets and determine the extent of degradation of the plastic because of molding. This study investigates the effect of adding different fillers to the starch matrix on reducing the MFI value. The fillers used in this work are nano chitosan, nano potato peel, and micro cellulose fillers. The fillers were used with different percentages (0.1%, 0.5%, and 1%). The study showed that increasing the percentage of filler reduces the MFI value. Nano chitosan filler had the highest reducing effect on the MFI value than the other fillers. © 2021 Seventh Sense Research Group®.