CNR ExploRA

Poster, 2022, ENG

FROM BIOPOLYMERS TO BIOPLASTICS: NEW OPPORTUNITIES TO INDUSTRIAL BIOBASED WASTES

Lucia Ricci 1, Cristina De Monte 1, Leonardo Arrighetti 1 and Simona Bronco 1*

1 Istituto per i Processi Chimico Fisici (PCF-CNR), Sede di Pisa del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via G. Moruzzi 1, 56124 Pisa, Italy

One of the pillars of the circular economy and green chemistry is the recovery and enhancement of waste materials. In the circular economy, a system is established where the products are designed in such a way that the generation of waste is minimal or totally eliminated, implementing a culture in which the product is designed to give it a second useful life, with added value and also the reduction of energy and raw material consumption is maximized [1]. Food industry, in particular, produces huge quantities of these materials that, without a valid reuse process, are destined for waste management with considerable economic and environmental costs. Conversely, reversing the traditional perspective, bio-based waste can become a source of many valuable substances with various applications. The driving force of this type of study is to find more and more uses for those that are basically scraps of industry, the disposal of which would be a considerable expense that would burden production processes. In recent years interest is moving from disposal to waste-valorisation with many advantages, both at the level of innovative products than at the level of waste treatment that at this point become an investment, a potential secondary resource instead of an expense. The valorisation of "the low value residues" for the development of new materials from agri-food waste is one of the many ways to take into consideration. The final stage of a production process becomes the beginning of a new cycle, different and often with unusual outcomes. Here we will show a way to breathe new life into these wastes. Thanks to the fibres and the protein fraction of legumes [2,3], to the cutin extracted from tomatoes [4,5], new materials have been achieved, firstly on a laboratory scale up to the scale-up to make the process industrial. Acknowledgement Marta Project. Sviluppo di una Innovativa MultipiattAforma SmaRt DrifTer - UMV- SAPR Per Indagini MArine. Programma POR CREO FESR TOSCANA 2014-2020. References [1] L. L. del Rio Osorio, E. Flórez-López, C. D. Grande-Tovar, Molecules, 26(2), 515, 2021. [2] L. Ricci, E. Umiltà, M.C. Righetti, T. Messina, C. Zurlini, A. Montanari, S. Bronco, M. Bertoldo, J. Sci. Food Agric., 98, 5368, 2018. [3] S. Bronco, M. C. Righetti, C. De Monte, M. Bertoldo, L. Ricci, P. Cinelli, A. Lazzeri Contributo al "10th Society And Materials International Conference SAM 10", 9-10 Maggio 2016, Roma, con poster dal titolo "Investigation of interfaces polymer/fiber and amorphous/crystal in biocomposite obtained from the valorization of agricultural co-products and by-products". [4] C. De Monte, L. Ricci, Oral communication in Science Colloquia, 11st March 2022 "A new life to industrial biobased wastes: from biopolymers to bioplastics". https://ipcfseminar.wordpress.com/a-new-life-to-industrial-biobased-wastes-from-biopolymers-to-bioplastics/ [5] L. Arrighetti, S. Bronco, C. De Monte, L. Ricci. "È possibile ottenere una bioplastica a partire da scarti agroalimentari?". https://wow.area.pi.cnr.it/bright-2021/

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