A team of researchers from Oregon State University are attempting to turn apple pomace — the waste material leftover from the processing of apple juice — into compostable packaging material.

To develop the apple-pomace based molded pulp packaging material — which is currently composed of discarded newspaper — the team determined it had to improve the water resistance of the pomace material to withstand high moisture, liquid foods and high humidity environments.

Source: Oregon State University

As such, researchers incorporated polymers and compounds — lignin, chitosan and glycerol, specifically — with water resistant properties into the pulp and also applied a superhydrophobic coating to the material’s surface.

The researchers believe that the apple pomace-based molded pulp material could be used in the manufacture of beverage cartons and bottles, egg cartons, take-out food containers, flower pots, and clamshell packaging used for fruits and vegetables, among others.

The apple pomace-based packaging is detailed in the article, Investigation of mechanisms and approaches for improving hydrophobicity of molded pulp biocomposites produced from apple pomace, which appears in the journal Food and Bioproducts Processing.