PART I

INTRODUCTION

This chapter of the paper includes the background of the study.

Background of the Study

Plastics are synthetic human-made materials made from polymers, which are long

molecules built around chains of carbon atoms, typically with hydrogen, oxygen, sulfur, and

nitrogen filling in the spaces. Nowadays, plastics can be seen everywhere, commonly, people use

plastics as wrappers or containers of their groceries, but it is also observable that plastics are the

main reason of environmental problems. Every year, tons of plastics are being dumped and burned

which causes various diseases as well as damage to the environment.

Plastics are any of numerous organic synthetics or processed materials that are mostly

thermoplastic or thermosetting polymers of high molecular weight and that can be made into

objects, films, or filaments. Because of these components, it takes millions of years for plastics to

decompose resulting to tons of it being dumped in dumpsites worldwide. This causes major

environmental problems and even health problems most especially to those people living near

dumpsites.

Nowadays, global warming is observed globally through climate change and extreme

environmental heat, so this research aims to provide an alternative substitute as a solution for these

problems. It is a fact that plastics are always handy when it comes to various things, such as in

groceries and other things. It may be very useful but the effects of plastics to the environment are

widely observed, so this biodegradable plastic also aims to be of help to the environment by being

ecologically friendly. These plastics can also affect the life of the animals especially if it found its
way to different bodies of water, which can destroy the life of marine animals. Plastics have also a

wide contribution in floods, specifically here in the Philippines because it clogs canals and other

passages of water affecting the flow of water and directing it to lowland areas.

Plastic contains chemicals that can cause damage to the nervous system and immune

system and some genetic diseases. If the plastic exposed to high temperature is produced from the

melt poisonous substances called dioxins, causing this article some tumors, birth defects, genetic

mutations, and cause gas and vehicles Alheidrockeropponip liquid resulting from plastics pollution

in the air and the earth, as well as causing chemicals resulting from the manufacture of plastics,

such as oxide, ethylene, gasoline and Alaakslin destruction of the nervous system and immune

system and certain types of cancers, kidney disease, and this chemical pollution dangerous resulting

in poisoning of food and causing health problems are complex, most important of which increase

the chance of infertility and disease cancer and hormonal imbalance in the body and disturbances

in the nervous system and imbalance in the mental capacity. Prevents heating food in the microwave

using plastic containers, especially those of food containing fat, which leads to the food poisoning

which affects the body and human health.

This study will use cornstarch and Blue Ternate as main components in making

biodegradable plastic. According to Bethany Moncel, cornstarch, sometimes referred to as corn

flour, is a carbohydrate extracted from the endosperm of corn. This white powdery substance is

used for many culinary, household, and industrial purposes. In the kitchen, cornstarch is most often

used as a thickening agent for sauces, gravies, glazes, soups, casseroles, pies, and other desserts.

Because cornstarch is made from corn and only contains carbohydrates it is a gluten product. For

this reason, cornstarch is an excellent gluten-free alternative to flour thickeners in recipes.

According to Kamal Patel, Blue Ternate, commonly known as Clitoria ternate, is one of

the four herbs traditionally used as Shanka Pushpi, an Ayurvedic medicine used to promote
neurological health. Aside from its numerous health and medicinal benefits, this plant can also be

used as a dye. Dyes obtained from natural resources have emerged as important replacement for

synthetic dyes. Plants like the Blue Ternate have been used to study color extraction and can be

used as a dyeing material in coloring industry. Base on the study conducted by Keka Sinha, aqueous

extractions of dye from the petal of this flower were carried out in the following conditions: time

of extraction, temperature, and amounts of flowers. It was observed that dye concentration

increases gradually at higher temperature for longer time.

Plastics come in different forms, but this research aims to find an alternative solution to

those plastics that are used in stores or what we call plastic bags. The purpose of this study is to

create a biodegradable plastic bag made from cornstarch as the main component, blue ternate to

add color on it, and other ingredients. This research aims to create a biodegradable plastic bag that

will only decompose within weeks or months to help in solving the problems in the environment

which involves plastics. This research also aims to develop materials and packaging that will add

zero pollution to our environmental footprint, and ideally, will be climate-neutral. One of the most

promising innovations in sustainable material production is the development of bio-based plastics

which to keep clean our world for the next generation.

 PART II

REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

This chapter provides and covers an overview of literature review.

Review of Related Literature

Biodegradable Plastics

According to Coles, Martin K, Jim S (2010), Plastics accounts for about 40% of the global

market for packaging, both food and non – food, and plastic packaging is rapidly growing than any

other material (Rexam, 2017/2008). Most bioplastics are educed from renewable raw materials.

Plants grown to produce materials, such as starch, for bioplastics absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) as

part of the carbon cycle. Starch is a profuse, annually renewable and low – cost source of polymer,

which make it a famous material in the production of bioplastics. Starch exists as granules in plants,

like corn, wheat, rice, tapioca, and potatoes, and is a carbohydrate polymer of D – glucose organized

in two major constitutes: amylose and amylopectin. These polymers are digestible by

microorganisms leading it to excellent composability of bioplastics containing a significant amount

of starch.

According to Berlin (2017), biodegradable plastics offer innovative solutions to improve

recycling quality by facilitating the means for more efficient separate waste collection. This has

been confirmed by a recent study jointly released by Corepla, the Italian Consortium for Collecting,

Recycling, and Recovering Plastic Packaging, the Italian Composters Consortium (CIC), and

Assobioplastiche, the Italian Bioplastic and Biodegradable and Compostable material Association.
 Biodegradable and compostable plastics facilitate separate collection of bio-waste and help

to divert organic waste from other recycling streams. Organic recycling is a well-established

industrial process ensuring the circular use for biodegradable plastics while creating a strong

secondary raw material market and opportunity for renewable energy generation.

According to Quick (2012), PLA is made from the starch in corn (or sometimes wheat)

plants, and it has the chemical formula (C3H4O2)n. [Polylactic Acid] It is used to produce

biodegradable plastics which in turn can be made into food packaging, compost bags etc. Before

PLA can be manufactured, endosperm has to be separated from the gluten and fibre in the corn first

using harvesting machines (this is done in normal corn harvests as well). [Lamb, Robert] PLA was

previously manufactured using a two-stage process (adding enzymes to the starchy endosperm to

turn it into a simple sugar named dextrose, and then going through the chemical process of

fermenting the dextrose and polymerizing it into PLA), but recently, a team of chemists had

successfully produced PLA using a one-stage process consisting of direct fermentation (using a

metabolically-engineered strain of E.Coli bacteria), which combines the aforementioned two steps

and makes the manufacturing process much simpler.

PART III

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This chapter presents the conclusions and recommendations of the study.

Conclusions

The results showed that the cornstarch have better biodegradability than the existing plastic

materials. The citric acid addition improves the shelf-life of the material and improves the

mechanical properties. The average thickness of the bioplastics is 0.25 mm (250 microns). The
average moisture content is 13.2%. The solubility in water is 11.9%. The biodegradability of the

sample is 48.7%, and it is achieved in 15 days. The maximum tensile strength of the bioplastics is

found to be 12.5 MPa. The water contact angle of 70° was obtained. From the above test results,

it can be concluded that bioplastics can be used as packing materials and can be used as an

alternative to LDPE and HDPE plastic bags. Due to the obtained properties of bioplastic, it would

be interesting to prepare polybags using this bioplastic with assumed lower cost. Investigation of

the hybridization of proposed starch materials with other biomaterials, and with different

plasticizers, would be an interesting scope for this research.

Recommendations

1. The researcher recommend that the students must learn to reuse and recycle plastics to help

in solve the environmental issues that world is facing at present.

2. The researcher recommend that the parents teach their children ways on how to minimize

the use of plastics and the proper waste disposal.

3. The researcher recommend that the teachers must teach their students ways on how to

simply help and save the environment.

4. The researcher recommend that communities spread awareness about the use of plastic and

conduct various environmental activities.