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Organic Waste-Based Bioplastics for Sustainable Food Packaging: Environmental and Human Health Implications
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This review looked at 34 published studies on bioplastics made from organic waste as alternatives to plastic food packaging. It found most research focused on material performance, like strength and shelf-life extension, while safety testing, such as chemical migration and toxicity, and full environmental assessments were rarely conducted.
Petroleum-based plastics remain widely used in food packaging but contribute to persistent environmental pollution and potential human exposure to microplastics, nanoplastics, and plastic-associated chemicals. Organic waste-based bioplastics have emerged as promising alternatives that may support waste valorization, circular economy principles, and more sustainable food packaging development. This systematic review aimed to synthesize current evidence on organic waste-based bioplastics for sustainable food packaging, with emphasis on functional performance, biodegradability, environmental fate, food-contact safety, and environmental and public health implications. The review followed the PRISMA 2020 guideline and was prospectively registered in the Open Science Framework. Literature searches were conducted in Scopus, ScienceDirect, PubMed, and SpringerLink. A total of 181 records were identified, and 34 studies published between 2020 and 2026 were included in the qualitative synthesis. Most studies focused on material performance, particularly mechanical and barrier properties, antioxidant and antimicrobial activity, shelf-life extension, and freshness-monitoring functions. Biodegradation was assessed in 13 studies, while compostability was rarely evaluated. Safety-related assessments were substantially less frequent, with only a limited number of studies examining migration, cytotoxicity or biocompatibility, ecotoxicity, and food-contact safety. None of the included studies conducted a comprehensive life cycle assessment. Organic waste-based bioplastics show considerable potential as functional and more sustainable food packaging materials. However, evidence regarding environmental and public health safety remains limited. Future research should integrate material performance with standardized migration testing, toxicological and ecotoxicological assessment, environmental fate analysis, degradation-product characterization, and life cycle assessment. Keywords: Bioplastics, Organic Waste, Sustainable Food Packaging, Environmental Health, Public Health.
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