Different packaging materials produced in packaging companies

Well, there are about a few types of packaging materials that the packaging companies produce. They are given below.

• Plastic containers
• Glass containers
• Metal containers
• Paperboard
• Rigid containers
• Aseptic packages

Clearly You should know that plastic is not a single material. But a range of different polymers. The polymers belong to this category are,[1] [2]

• High-density polyethylene (HDPE)
• Low-density polyethylene (LDPE)
• Polyethylene terephthalate (PET)

In this chapter, you will get an understanding of the above packaging materials. And also you will know how to use them in different beverages.

First of all, we should know about the types of beverages available. Then we can choose the most suitable materials that packaging companies deliver us with. After going through the above details we will update you with the possible companies you can buy them.

Classification of beverages

Non alcoholic Beverages

Clearly carbonated and non carbonated drinks belong to this category.

• Non-carbonated drinks – Obviously fruit juices, fruit nectar and drinks like tea and coffee comes under this category
• Carbonated drinks – carbonated soft drinks, as well as tonic water and soda, comes under this.[2][5]

Alcoholic beverages

Well, here you have two categories as fruit sap drinks and grain-based drinks. You can divide both categories into two sections clearly as distilled and Non distilled.

So the further classification is as follows.

• Fruit or sap based – wine and brandy
• Grain-based – Whisky and beer[2]

Beverage packaging materials produced by packaging companies

1. Glass

Obviously glass is a very preferred packing material for beverages. Although there are novel packages, Packaging companies still focus on manufacturing them. Because It ensures the quality of the product in different ways.[6]

But It is important to perform the thermal treatments in a careful manner in order to maintain the glass with maximum quality.[2]

However, nowadays packaging companies have improved the properties of glasses for modern packaging requirements.

• They are light in weight for more convenience
• And also there are Containers of caps- with easy opening techniques
• surely there are coatings too to prevent abrasion

What are the beverages that you can package??

Surely this includes,

1. Non- carbonated beverages

• Obviously fruit juices, nectar and coffee include to glass packaging

2. Carbonated beverages

• In terms of carbonated ones, you pack soft drinks, soda and tonic water in glass jars with the crown cork sealing it.[2]

3. Alcoholic beverages

• Now it’s obvious that you can use glass for many of the beverages we drink. Surely for alcoholic drinks like beer, whiskey, brandy, and wine, it is the most common package.
• For wine, you can use the glass bottle with natural cork sealing it. And for the beer, you can use the glass bottles with crown cork sealing it.[2]

What are the advantages and disadvantages??

Advantages

• Easily recyclable and reusable
• More importantly, they are chemically inactive
• Excellent impermeability to vapors and gases
• obviously, they are very useful for sterilization because of good heat stability
• Proper insulation properties and rigidity
• You can produce them transparent or either colorful.
• Surely Packaging companies use different colors on glass for light protection[3]

Disadvantages

• Surely there can be high transportation costs for glass
• This is a result of brittleness
• Obviously the breakage also can be there due to pressure, thermal shock, etc. [3]

Packaging companies that offer glass packaging

Surely this includes,

• Beatson Clark
• Gerresheimer
• Vetropack Group(Switzerland)
• Pattesons Glass Ltd
• Coorstek Inc
• Owens-Illinois
• Imperial Packaging
• Ardagh (Ireland)
• Caroxson
• Neville and More
• P. Wilkinson Containers Ltd

2. Metal containers

Mostly the packaging companies produce metal containers as tinplate cans. Clearly They consist of mild steel. And they coat them with tin or either chromium. Usually, these containers are 2 piece or 3 piece cans.

However, as an advancement, now packaging companies produce aluminum cans too. It’s better to apply lacquer to avoid corrosion. [7]

What are the beverages that you can package??

Obviously most packaging companies produce different metal containers that you can pack beverages. They are as follows:

1. Non carbonated beverages

• Clearly fruit beverages like fruit juices, drinks as well as coffee come under this.

Surely For fruit drinks and coffee, you can use tinplate cans consisting of steel. They can be either two-piece containers or three-piece containers[2]

2. Carbonated beverages

• Surely For carbonated drinks like soft drinks(Coca-cola, soda, Fanta, Sprite, etc.), you can use either three-piece tin plate cans or two-piece aluminum cans.[7]

3.Alcoholic beverages

• In addition, you can buy metal cans from packaging companies For some alcoholic drinks like beer.

Packaging companies produce different kinds of metal cans according to consumer specifications. Now let’s see what are their pros and cons.[2]

Advantages

• Metal cans give better physical protection
• Surely their barrier properties are better
• And also they are recyclable
• Most importantly, unlike glass, most of them are not brittle[3][7]

Disadvantages

• Clearly, if you use aluminum cans there are high costly
• Unlike glass, these metal cans can react with the substances in beverages [3]

Packaging companies that offer metal packaging

Surely this includes,

• Amcor Limited (Australia)[18]
• Crown Holdings (U.S)
• Ball Corporation (U.S)
• Ardagh (Ireland)
• Silgan Containers LLC (U.S)

3. Plastics

You may think that plastic is a kind of single substance prepared in different ways. But it’s not. Plastics are a range of materials made of different polymers.

Especially for beverages, the main types of plastics you can use are HDPE, PET, and LDPE. Surely they have many special characteristics that make them more efficient than other packaging materials.[8]

Clearly those characteristics include low electric conductivity, comparatively low density, toughness, and non-brittle properties. There’s no doubt that Most of the packaging companies produce a high fraction of plastics. This is because most consumers like you mainly prefer plastic.

What are the beverages you can package ??

For Fruit beverages

Surely some fruit beverages like fruit drinks, juices you can use PET bottles. Most of the fruits are more prone to microbial contamination. Therefore hot filling is necessary to increase the shelf life.[9]

As packaging companies manufacture PET bottles in a thermoset manner, there’s no doubt that you can use them for hot filling of juices. Usually, packaging companies manufacture hot filling bottles heavier than cold filling bottles.

For coffee

Clearly for beverages like coffee you should choose the packaging design based on several factors. Well, those factors include,

• Ingress of water vapor (Entering)
• Ingress of carbon dioxide and volatiles
• permeability to oxygen

Obviously, for tea packaging, the packaging companies introduce several plastic types. In case of increasing the performance, companies add laminates for the plastic pouches.[4]

Surely those laminates include,

• laminates made of MET-PET/LDPE (MET PET – metalized PET)
• Laminates made of LDPE/ PET/Al foil

It is obvious why packaging companies more trend to produce laminated plastic pouches. Because they have high performance.

For tea

Surely for tea also you can use plastic packaging materials. Packaging companies manufacture plastic pouches, envelops, and jars for that.

Moreover, you can package them in paperboard lined with PP( polypropylene). Clearly it can be one of the most common packages

For carbonated drinks

Clearly PET is the best plastic material for packaging soft drinks. By increasing the thickness of the package you can prevent the carbon dioxide loss.

As PET satisfies most of the packaging requirements of soft drinks, you can consider it as the best package for carbonated drinks.[9]

what are the Advantages you can get by using plastic??

• Surely they are chemically inert
• Flexibility is high
• No doubt they have good heat-sealing properties
• Very low transportation costs because they are Light in weight and inexpensive
• Easy to mold
• You can print them attractively[3]

what are the disadvantages you can get by using plastic??

• Although some plastics are recyclable, there can be issues with regard to plastics due to complex nature.
• And also the permeability can be varied for different gases, light, etc.[3]

Packaging companies that offer plastic packaging for beverages

Surely this includes,

• Swiss pack (U.K)
• Beverage Plastics
• Ambro (U.K)
• RPC Group (U.K)
• Rosti
• Berry M&H
• P. Wilkinson Containers Ltd
• Sri Gayathri packaging industries

4. Rigid containers

Well, these are not the primary packages that have direct contact with the beverage. Surely Packaging companies manufacture them for holding the bag type packages during transportation as well as storage.[10]

Most of these bags are difficult to transport as they are made of flexible films. However, the term rigid containers apply directly to fibreboard cartons(corrugated) when there are small capacities like 50-liter bulks.

what beverages you can package ??

Obviously it includes,

• Fruit drinks in bags
• Dairy drinks

Packaging companies that offer rigid packaging materials

Surely this includes,

• DS SMITH PLC (London)
• Packaging Corporation of America
• WestRock (Georgia)

5. Aseptic packages

Obviously these packages are made of plastic, paperboard, and aluminum foils. The effect of multilayers has a significant effect on protecting beverages from spoilage. Clearly aluminum foil layer act as a barrier for light and oxygen.

Beverages that can package

• Fruit juices
• Fruit pulps or concentrates

Why packaging is necessary??

Well, the packaging is necessary for ensuring the safety of food products. Here we are talking about fruits. Fruits are perishables.they undergo many mechanical damages during handling transport.

How can we stop them?? Clearly, well-designed packaging is a better solution. Packaging companies find new packaging solutions for three main purposes. Firstly to prevent mechanical damages. Secondly to contain the product and thirdly for marketing and information purposes.[1]

Now lets see what type of packages are available.

Types

• wooden packaging types
• wire bound crates
• Corrugated fiberboard
• pulp containers
• Paper mesh bags
• plastic bags
• Shrinkwrap
• Rigid Packages
• Trays

Surely there are many packaging types available from wood. Most importantly different packaging companies produce varying types of wood packagings.

• Pallets
• Baskets and hampers
• crates and lugs

Particularly there are also different packaging systems available for fresh fruits.

• Active Packaging
• Intelligent packaging

First, let’s take a deep look into the features of different types of packages. And also which packaging companies produce them. Furthermore, we will discuss their role for different fruits.

1. Wood packaging available in packaging companies

Well, different fruit packaging companies produce different forms. Wood pallets are one of them.Obviously this is the most frequent packaging material for fruits.

Wood pallets

Obviously we use wood pallets to deliver fresh produce to customers. In the early times, packaging companies produced pallets mostly for single use. But now with the time, the companies are standardizing the sizes of the pallets.

However, there is no single official standard size. But of course, there are some ISO standards for sizes. On the other hand, there are some American standards for pallets too. But packaging companies produce most of the packages with 40 in x 48 in x 6 in size. of course, there are other standard sizes too. Cleary there are plenty of benefits for users and packaging companies due to this standardization.[1][4]

Benefits

• Obviously due to this now re-using is increasing.
• As a result of reducing cost now there are pallet racks and new handling equipment
• They are indeed efficient in the use of space in transporting vehicles.
• And also capable of tolerating heavy loads.
• Additionally, you can reduce the disposal costs with warehouse costs by pallets for single use.

What are the standard sizes??

Well surely there six ISO pallet sizes.Mostly Packaging companies produce pallets according

• 40.00 × 48.00 inches
• 45.9 × 45.9 inches
• 42.00 × 42.00 inches
• 43.30 × 43.30 inches
• 39.37 × 47.24 inches
• 31.50 × 47.24 inches

Are there alternatives for pallets??

[1]Obviously there are alternatives available in packaging companies. Of course, Plastic pallets are one of the very first alternatives. But clearly slip sheets are also another type of alternative. Although they are similar to pallets, there are some differences too. Unlike the wooden pallets, you can easily move a slip sheet with its forklift.[1]

On the other hand, comparative to pallet companies needless cost for production and cheap for consumers as well.Besides they are easy to store too.

Wooden crates

Although there are different alternatives still packaging companies widely produce them. This is because people use them widely for different fruits and vegetables as well. Let’s look into types of crates available.

wire-bound crates

Obviously packaging companies produce them, especially for beans and corn. They are also available in different sizes. Surely in this packaging material, it has a larger amount of open space. This will aid the good ventilation and cooling process.[1][2]

clearly, it has a high stacking strength. And also it is less affected by water. Definitely the wires beneath the stitches are responsible for strength. Companies produce them for oranges, potatoes, and grapefruits as well.

Collapsible crates

Particularly this crate type is convenient in terms of storage. You can easily fold it. And also you can remove the top and the bottom parts easily.[2]

Nailed crates

Well, this is a kind of box with good strength. Usually, people use them for domestic transport. Or else you can use it to transport produce from a farmer to the trader. Like the above one, this is also better for ventilation.

Obviously the advantage is the strength is unaffected by water. And also you can easily repair them.[2]

On the other hand, its production cost is high. And the freight volume is high too.

Baskets and hampers

Packaging companies produce these baskets for a series of sizes. Clearly for fruits and vegetables. Surely you can use it for a range of crops including different berries and yams.[1]

Definitely they are durable but palletizing and disposal is difficult. Clearly it makes them kind of difficult to use.

2. Fiberboard boxes available in packaging companies

Clearly, there are two types of fiber board boxes produced by packaging companies.These are kinds of boxes.Namely,

• Solid fiberboard
• Corrugated fiber board

Solid fiberboard

Well, for kinds of boxes if you apply waxes, they are resistant to moisture. You can use them for transporting ginger, tomato and Cucurbita family vegetables.[4]

Besides it is easy to label them with customer oriented information.

Corrugated fiberboard

Clearly, you may have mistaken this as cardboard. But it is not cardboard!! Packaging companies produce them in vastly different designs. Obviously this is one of the most popular packaging materials.[1] [2][4]

More importantly, companies produce them in multilayers. And the multilayers are made of paperboards. Surely they are made of different components.

Package manufacturers easily change the strength of the box. For that, they change facing material, thickness, and fluting material. clearly the number of walls also have an effect here.[2]

Components

First, if they are made of pulp without bleaching, boxes are brown in color. But highly strong. Secondly, if they contain wood fibers and synthetic fibers, then they are extra strong. In addition, packaging companies try to increase recycled fibers . Because that will increase the strength during stacking.

Well, among the types of fiberboard boxes, double-faced fiberboard (also known as single wall board) is most popular. It consists of an inner layer, outer layer, and paperboard in the middle. As a result, it is fairly strong enough to handle perishables.

But recently packaging companies tend to produce multi-walled fiberboard.Obviously they are suitable for packing pumpkins, potatoes, citrus, and melons.Usually packing houses use the triple-walled board as an alternative for wood.

Constraints

• Definitely, When humidity is high these packages lost their strength. Surely by waxing you can prevent this.
• But waxing makes fiberboard difficult to recycle, which means problems occur in landfills.

Positive factors

Most importantly packaging companies form the geometry of the fiberboard in a special way. As a result, it carries the stacking pressure by its corners. Therefore fiberboard can protect the produce from crushing.

3. Pulp containers available in packaging companies

They are made of starch and paper pulp. Therefore definitely biodegradable in nature. Starch act as binders here. Packaging companies produce them in Various designs to attract customers.

Positive factors

Especially these packages can absorb moisture in the product surface. Therefore this is a great solution for berry fruits and small fruit types. Because they easily deteriorate with moisture.

3. shrink wrap films

Obviously it is one of the novel packaging trend.You can easily use shrink wrapping for corn, onions, apples and yams like potatoes. And also it is better for tropical fruits too.

Positive factors

• Surely they can prevent diseases
• Unlike other packages it avoids shrinkage.
• Most importantly prevents damage

Rigid packages

Usually, these packages are also called clam-shells.Top and the bottom parts are formed from plastics.Packaging companies produce them due to various favorable factors they posses.However, now they are becoming popular due to many reasons.Now Lets look what those factors are,

• They are fairly cost-effective
• Very attractive appearance
• Definite physical protection from damage

Clearly you can use them for berries and small fruits. And most probably for mushrooms too.

Packaging systems available in packaging companies

Well, there are two packaging systems in novel packaging systems. Packaging companies

Active packaging systems

Obviously, in active packaging, we incorporate different constituents to the packaging. So that it can improve the shelf life of the product. Therefore most Packaging companies incorporate active packaging systems to their packages.

Obviously now it is a growing trend. Now let’s go through some types of active packaging systems

Oxygen scavengers

Clearly, when the oxygen levels are high it leads to oxidative reactions. As a result, deterioration happens. Surely it will degrade color and flavor compounds and lipids as well. Look for the examples given below.

1. FreshPax® and FreshMax®

Well, this has good absorbing qualities and it is present in packets. Obviously this can elevate the carbon dioxide level while reducing oxygen level..[3]

Surely they adhere effectively to the package and prevent aerobic microorganisms too.

2. Oxyguard Tray®

Obviously, you can use this scavenger to prevent atmospheric oxygen from entering the package. Besides, it can elevate the carbon dioxide level while decreasing the oxygen level. However, with this active packaging systems, most of the drawbacks occur in packaging companies can be eliminated.[3]

3. Ageless®

Most frequently manufacturers use this oxygen scavenger for their packages. Definitely this will increase the shelf life of the product.

Perhaps you may think oxygen scavengers are the only active packaging systems. But it’s not true. Obviously there are other systems with emitters and absorbers. .[3]

what are those emitters?

Surely those emitters are carbon dioxide and ethanol emitters.

What are the absorbers?

Humidity and ethylene absorbers are examples for that.

Intelligent packaging systems

How can we define this ?

Briefly, we can describe it as a system that monitors food properties. And more precisely it .gives information about the state of the product properties. Clearly it gives a hidden message to consumers if there is any change in the product properties.[3]

Surely, with these packaging systems, it’s possible to eliminate most of the drawbacks in packaging companies. Because they improve the quality of the package.

In which forms are they available??

Obviously There are available in two forms.

• The first form is Time Temperature Indicators
• The Second form is Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide Indicators

1.What is Biodegradable Packaging ???

We can simply define biodegradable packaging as ” The polymeric materials which are manufactured using biopolymers. They often decompose into carbon dioxide, water, methane, and inorganic compounds. Enzymatic activity of microorganisms supports this process.”[1]

Surely enzymatic activity can be measured through standard tests. But the decomposition process varies depending on the packaging material and the processing conditions. [1].[4]

2. Why biodegradable packaging???

You are well aware of the fact that conventional food packaging materials we use have several drawbacks. However, Most of the drawbacks are relating to environmental conditions Especially pollution.[3]

2.1 Raw materials of traditional packaging

Obviously the most possible reason can be the raw materials.They are made of ,

• Plastic
• Glass
• Metals
• Paper.

Particularly you know that the above materials are synthetic matter. And clearly they have a very low biodegradability. This directly affects the environment.[2]

2.2 Harm to the environment

Clearly Plastic is the main conventional packaging material responsible for many harmful effects. Even so, manufacturers produce these packaging materials for specialized applications.

People are well aware of the harmful effects of traditional packaging. They have issues with regard to ,

• degradability,
• cost-effectiveness
• environmental impacts

But Despite these issues people still use them. This is Because of their high availability and convenience.[2] [3] [5]

2.3 Complex composition

Now let’s look into the composition.No doubt that conventional packaging materials have complex structures.[1] They comprise of,

• Main polymer component
• Colorants
• Fillers
• Plasticizers

2.4 Why recycling is difficult??

It’s obvious because they have complex chemical compositions. Moreover, it becomes more difficult as most of them have long-chain polymer molecules. This is why they are difficult to recycle.[7]

2.5 Current usage in society

Do you know the current status of annual plastic material consumption?? In the world, it is approximately 230 million tonnes. It has been increased four times within the past 70 years. [6]

However, you should know that only about 5% of plastic materials can be recycled. Therefore now this is a growing problem.  [3]

Definitely, All the above factors are good reasons for society to think about new alternatives. Nevertheless, those alternatives should be environmentally friendly too.

That is how the biodegradable packaging concept come into existence!!

3. In which forms biodegradable packaging exists??

Clearly different products have different requirements. So it’s obvious that packaging material and form should be different. These forms include,[3]

• Gels
• films
• Bags
• Boxes
• Trays

3.1 Biodegradable Gels

More frequently Gels are used as coating agents on fruits as well as vegetables. Usually, they are hydrogels. You can use them to avoid contamination of microbes. And also, they can protect beta-carotene content in some fruits.[2]

Apart from that, In maintaining antioxidant levels of perishables, some gels have special effects. Obviously, Certain biodegradable films act as good biodegradable gels with the extract of the ginseng plant.[2][3]

Contrary to the above facts, in some cases, hydrogels can reduce the shelf life of the product. This happens as a result of the migrating of water. This is because they attract water molecules.

3.2 Biodegradable Films

Obviously, Films are also produced from renewable materials.  Can be prepared using polysaccharide, protein, or lipid materials. For manufacturers, it is important that these materials be food grade and increase shelf life clearly ensuring safety is also important.[2]

Especially they need polymers with moisture-resistant and oxygen barrier properties. Because they can use them for wrapping perishables and for sealing food containers.[10][11]

And also they are better at preventing microbial contamination of fruist. These films have desirable effects on increasing shelf life. [13]

Example:

vanilla impregnated Methylcellulose has antimicrobial effects on yeast and Escherichia coli.[2]

3.21 Special properties

• The thickness between 25μm to 140μm
• Films are clear, transparent or opaque based on the type of product
• Can be laminate, print or label the films
• Store at 18-23°C and 40- 65 % RH.This helps to preserve structural characteristics
• Microstructural changes affect the properties of the film.[6]

Example:

A results of a study on Biodegradable film for meat

• 12% increase in yield,
• 7% decrease in moisture loss
• Improvement of flavour compounds

3.3 Biodegradable Boxes

Obviously Corn is a highly available plant around the world. There is a bio-polystyrene obtained from corn. Easily you can use them to produce biodegradable boxes. [2]

Usually, they biodegrade after about 7 weeks. And also they release no harmful matter to the environment . Indeed this is why they are very much suitable for future packaging.

Example:

Definitely a PLA Box can maintain the quality of fruits at a temperature range of 10 to 23⁰C.[2]

And also They have high strength and resistant property to breakage. Clearly they are excellent materials for biodegradable packaging.

3.4 Biodegradable Trays

Surely you can buy biodegradable trays from the market now.Especially use them to store fruits and vegetables. Most of them are made of the plant pulps. But they have a brittle texture.[2]

4. The types of Bio degradable -polymer materials??

4.1 Biodegradable Polymers from biomass

No doubt These polymers are extracted from living sources. They include plants, animals, and sometimes marine sources. And also they are less costly. Therefore produce excellent packaging materials at a low cost.[1][2][14]

However, there are some natural sources with better cost-effectiveness and availability compared to others. polymers from potato and corn are one of the examples.

4.11 Potato and corn

Firstly you have to obtain starch molecules. For that heating is necessary. Then you can process them further to get the final shape. This processing is done in different ways. [2][16] [23]

Very frequently Manufacturers form them into bags, trays, sacks, or any other packages. The specialty is they are nearly 100 percent biodegradable.

Apart from potato and corn, you can use rice and wheat flour which have the same properties.

4.12 Chick beans and soy beans

Here especially you can use vegetable proteins to extract polymers from beans. After extracting polymers you can use these polymers to produce packaging materials.The main types of vegetable proteins focusing in here are,

1. casein
2. Albumin
3. Fibrinogen
4. Elastin etc.

Especially the biofilms of soy protein are moisture sensitive and have less strength. Conversely, some recent experiments found that these biofilms can be developed. They have better properties when used with carrageenan and glycerol.[2] [3][25]

4.13 Bamboo

The bamboo tree has a high growth rate. Furthermore, it contains a huge percentage of cellulose making it easy to obtain cellulose. This polymer can be used to form different forms of packaging.[17][18]

Manufacturers use cellulose for producing papers. They are most frequently used for packaging.

4.14 Cotton linters and Flax fibers

Obviously, You can produce the biopolymer ‘cellulose acetate’ if you try. You need cotton and flax for this.Indeed, according to experimental studies, it is not an easy method. Unlike cotton linters, Flax fibers give a high fraction of cellulose acetate.So if you are going to produce cellulose acetate better to use flax fibers[1][2]

Particularly This is done by a well-controlled acetylation process with sulfuric acid. Along with that various laboratories, instrumental techniques are also required.

4.2 Biodegradable packaging Polymers from chemical synthesis

Particularly the chemical synthesis allows you to get a huge range of biopolyesters. So That is a fascinating factor when considering the industrial production of these biomaterials. [2]

Definitely many of the available packaging materials can be replaced with these monomers. The most popular biopolymer group belonging to this category is Polylactic acid (PLA).

4.21 Polylactic acid (PLA)

This is a linear polyester. It also have similar properties of polystyrene. Unlike polystyrene, PLA has the ability of biodegrading. This is the main difference. Especially To produce PLA on an industrial basis you should use fermentation.[2][3]

Clearly a carbohydrate source is essential. For the carbohydrate source,especially they use starch or glucose from wheat, corn, or molasses.

How these polymers are produced??

The two monomers involved in here are lactide and lactic acid .You can use two methods here.

Method 01

Well, This is the most common and most simple procedure for producing PLA. Here lactide is subjected to polymerization. Not only that it needs the metal catalysts. They do catalyzing step in a suspension or a solution to complete the process.[3]

Method 02

Unlike the above process, this is a condensation process. The main principle here is monomers of lactic acid are directly condensing. Be careful to do It under a temperature of less than 200⁰C. Otherwise, it will form molecules of lower molecular weight. [3]

Most importantly this condensation is done stepwise. Because It is important to produce PLA accurately. First lactic acids oligomerize PLA. Secondly condensation takes place by combining oligomer units.

Usually you can convert this polymer into,

• Thermoform pads
• Bottles
• Films
• food containers

4.3 Biodegradable packaging from GMO (Genetically modified Organisms) or natural organisms

Surely this is an interesting section as GMOs are involved. Bacteria use energy sources and carbon reserves of Most of these kinds of polymers. Following are the group of biodegradable polymers produced using this method.[3]

• Polyhydroxy alkanoates (PHA)
• Polyhydroxy butyrate (PHB)
• Bacterial cellulose

4.31 How can you produce PHA ??

You can produce a large variety of biopolymers in this process. That is The most important thing.This is done by fermentation of microbes. Especially PHA- polymerase enzyme is very productive in catalyzing this polymerization process.[2]

Furthermore, this is a kind of biochemical synthesis. And also It Happens within a cell with the aid of enzymes. However, there is an important factor that should be taken into consideration.[20]

The textural properties of these polymers change with bacteria type and the carbon source. So it is important that you choose the correct bacteria type and sources of carbon to produce different packages. The texture varies from brittle form to rubber-like form.

4.32 How can you produce PHB ??

This is a linear polyester. Like the above one, this biodegradable polymer is also produced by fermentation of bacteria. You will need a lipid or sugar medium for that.[2]

Most importantly you can use PHB for the packaging of food. Obviously you can use this packaging material for other purposes too. Especially in Pharmaceutical and cosmetics products.

5. What are the important features of these biodegradable packaging??

5.1 Improved barrier properties

It is important to note that many of these polymers can also have several drawbacks. Surely Conventional packaging materials and some of the popular biodegradable materials can have permeability issues. cellulose films are one of the biomaterials that have the above issues.

Clearly they have good barrier properties for oxygen and carbon dioxide. whereas low barrier properties for water vapor.

On the other hand, some biodegradable materials have enhanced barrier properties for oxygen. No doubt it can be greater than traditional ones.PHB is one such example. But clearly It has a low permeability to oxygen than PP (Polypropelene) PET (polyethylene Terephthalate).

5.12 How to eliminate poor properties??

Definitely you can eliminate these poor properties by mixing biomaterials with some of the synthetic polymers. But especially make sure to do that in correct techniques with correct proportions.

6.Waste management options in biodegradable packaging

6.1 Recycle

Did you know that many of biodegradable materials are mixtures of conventional polymers and natural fibers? Maybe not. Obviously it is one of the first reasons to cause issues in recycling.

Besides you can use most biodegradable polymers with laminated layers. Specially This is done to improve their performance. And also they are not available in large quantities too. Along with the above reasons it makes recycling a little bit complicated.

6.2 Incineration

Particularly This is a kind of thermal treatment do for waste management. This process converts waste to heat, ash, and flue gas. This is one of the best options to manage the biodegradable waste.

Besides fibers and starches in biopolymers consume less energy in this process. This is also favorable to energy balance.

6.3 Composting

Especially this is an aerobic digestion process of wastes. You can also degrade Bio-polymers by this method. But this composting process takes about several months to complete. This process releases carbon and different nutrients to the soil. Surely Now it is a growing trend in the world.

In contrast, some other biopolymers are better for anaerobic digestion. Digestion process converts waste into methane. Subsequently, this methane is suitable for energy generation.

7. Advantages and disadvantages of biodegradable packaging

7.1 Advantages

• Eco – friendly
• Non-toxic
• low emissions to the atmosphere
• Renewable
• Low energy consumption
• Recycling is easy

7.3 Disadvantages

• Low land availability for production
• Lack of processing plants
• Less awareness
• Not long-lasting
• More requirement of plant matter for production