EVALUATING THE BANANA PEEL PLASTICS FOR NEW PACKING MATERIALS

Plastics are essential components for countless products utilized in our daily life. However, the non-biodegradable durability of traditional petroleum-based plastics has resulted in catastrophic scars on the Earth’s ecosystems. Animals such as terrestrial or marine, mammal, amphibian, and even plants are poisoned by ingestion of petroleum-based plastics on a day to day basis. Thus, biodegradable plastics started being developed, supported by their potential advantage to minimize global plastic pollution.

This study was conducted to examine the feasibility of banana peel plastic to identify the optimal application for packaging materials. Two types of banana plastic were created. Banana plastic with low biodegradability was made with 0.5% sodium metabisulfite (SMBS), while the plastic with high biodegradability had no treatment in the SMBS solution. The effects of the compound were compared throughout the manufacturing processes. To create the banana plastic, fresh bananas were peeled, cut into pieces, boiled for 30 minutes in distilled water, and blended into a liquified paste. The serial addition and thorough blending of HCl, glycerol, and NaOH were performed. Then, the resulting dough-type pastes were formed to be ring-shaped packing materials. And subsequently, the products were baked into the form of banana plastic in an electric oven.

The study revealed that banana plastic was better suited as a packing material than Styrofoam based on the results from moving gap tests, pressing force endurances, and fire-catching time for both types of banana plastics. Comparing the parameters between biodegradable plastics (BDP) and styrofoam packing materials, it took 89% longer for BDP to catch on fire than Styrofoam, the pressure force endurance was 78% greater in BDP, and the moving gap was 150% less in BDP than Styrofoam. Our packing materials demonstrated the feasibility of the sample product better secured with high protection.