The persistence of plastics in the environment is a global problem that may soon be alleviated by materials researchers at the University of Western Ontario, Canada. A new biodegradable material has been synthesized that could serve as a sustainable substitute for packaging needs commonly based on plastic.

The more environmentally benign material fuses copolyesters based on dicarboxylic acids with hemp, a widelySource: J. Polym. Sci., 2023 available and sustainable agricultural crop. The researchers tested the use of ground hemp stalk powder to serve as filler during production of packaging in existing injection molding lines.

The processing and the incorporation of hemp did not substantially influence the thermal properties of the polymers, although its inclusion increased the stiffness of the materials and reduced their ductility. The resulting biocomposites were observed to experience measurable mass loss in the presence of lipase from the soil microfungus Rhizopus oryzae, confirming that the material is biodegradable.

A research paper on this promising new packaging material is published in the Journal of Polymer Science.