South Dakota State University researchers are turning spent coffee grounds into biodegradable packaging film to potentially replace traditional plastic packaging film.

According to the team, what makes spent coffee grounds appropriate for this application is that they are readily available and contain lignocellulosic fibers, which are ingredients necessary to manufacture films.

To create the film, the team extracted lignocellulosic fibers from the spent coffee grounds and then employed a chemical modification process to make the material more appropriate for packaging.

The researchers determined that the films developed through this process demonstrated high tensile strength, possessed antioxidant properties, blocked significant amounts of ultraviolet radiation and were biodegradable within 45 days in the soil.

The South Dakota State University team aren't the only researchers attempting to turn coffee grounds into plastic film. AIMPLAS, the Technological Institute of Plastics, has also manufactured plastic film using discarded coffee grounds for flexible packaging applications.

Coffee grounds, based on their easy availability, are also being eyed as an ingredient in the manufacture of other products, including concrete and 3D printing material.

A study detailing the process for transforming coffee grounds into packaging film, "Biodegradable, UV-blocking, and antioxidant films from lignocellulosic fibers of spent coffee grounds," appears in the International Journal of Biological Macromolecules.