Indian Journal of Advances in Chemical Science, Volume: 9, Issue : 4, December 2021

ISSN No.: 2320-0898 (Print); 2320-0928 (Electronic)

DOI: 10.22607/IJACS.2021.904027

Review Article

Sustainable Food Packaging: A Review of Polylactic Acid as Biodegradable Material

Reham M. Faheem*, Venessa Robert Osta

ABSTRACT

Plastic is an integral part of our life and with the spread of COVID-19, it has become all the more important as packaging materials for maintaining hygiene. Due to bioaccumulation and the detrimental effects of plastics, there is an urgent need for alternatives. To restore our environment, this alternative has to be as comfortable as plastic material. As a result, in the recent past, the concept of biodegradable plastics has gained much attention among researchers. The studies have reported polylactic acid as an alternate material for plastics. The use of this polymer as an alternative is restricted due to its high cost and characteristics such as thermal degradability and an inadequate barrier to oxygen and water. The present review gives a comparative evaluation of biopolymers and their advantages and disadvantages as packaging material. The insight of this analysis will be suggestive of designing sustainable food packaging biopolymers, which will further help in reducing its detrimental effect on the environment.

Key words: Sustainable packing, Plastic waste, Biopolymers, Polylactic acid.

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