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Corn Waste a Sustainable Solution for Plastic Pollution: A Mini Review
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This mini-review examines the potential of corn waste—including husks, stalks, and cobs rich in cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin—as a feedstock for biodegradable films to replace petroleum-based plastics. Corn waste films produced through casting and extrusion methods show mechanical and barrier properties comparable to conventional plastics with significantly faster biodegradation, and show promise for packaging and agricultural applications.
Plastic pollution is a critical environmental issue leading to extensive ecological damage and posing health risks due to the persistence of petrochemical-derived plastics. Biodegradable films particularly those derived from renewable resources like corn waste offer a promising solution to this issue. Corn waste including husks, stalks and cobs are rich in cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin making it suitable for biodegradable film production. Various methods such as chemical treatments, enzymatic hydrolysis and mechanical processes are used to extract useful components from corn waste followed by film formation techniques like casting and extrusion. Corn waste films exhibit mechanical and barrier properties comparable to conventional plastics with the added benefit of faster biodegradability. These films have potential applications in packaging and agriculture reducing plastic waste and supporting sustainable practices.
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Agricultural Waste-Derived Biopolymers for Sustainable Food Packaging: Challenges and Future Prospects
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This review examines how agricultural residues such as rice husks, corn cobs, and fruit peels can be converted into biodegradable polymers as sustainable alternatives to conventional plastic food packaging. Key biopolymers discussed include cellulose, starch, proteins, PHA, and PLA, with findings highlighting promising properties alongside ongoing challenges in cost, mechanical performance, and food safety compliance.
Valorization of Corn Cob into Cellulose-Based Bioplastics: Extraction, Fabrication and Biodegradability Evaluation
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Cellulose extracted from corn cob agricultural waste was successfully used to produce biodegradable bioplastic films via solvent casting, with a cellulose yield of 53.1% and biodegradation within 21–35 days under composting conditions. Corn cob-derived bioplastics demonstrate a viable circular economy pathway for replacing petroleum-based plastics in packaging applications, directly addressing the source of the microplastic pollution that fragments from conventional plastic packaging waste.
Elaboration of germinable bioplastic based on corn olot
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Researchers developed a germinable bioplastic from corn cob waste as a biodegradable alternative to conventional plastic materials. The bioplastic can both degrade and support plant germination when placed in soil, offering a sustainable alternative that avoids generating persistent microplastic fragments.
Promising biodegradable composite derived from corn straw fiber and waste Polyethylene
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Researchers developed a biodegradable composite material from corn straw fibers and waste polyethylene as an agricultural mulch alternative, finding that incorporating agricultural crop residues improved the composite's mechanical and biodegradable properties. This approach simultaneously addresses plastic waste and agricultural residue disposal while reducing persistent plastic mulch contamination of farmland soils.
Corncob-derived biodegradable packaging films: A sustainable solution for raspberry post-harvest preservation
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Researchers developed biodegradable packaging films from corncob waste that preserved raspberries significantly longer than conventional polystyrene packaging. The films biodegrade in soil within 29 days, offering a sustainable alternative that could reduce microplastic contamination from food packaging. This matters because plastic food packaging is a known source of microplastic and nanoplastic migration into food.
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When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.