Sustainable bioplastics from amyloid fibril-biodegradable polymer blends

TL;DR

This paper presents a scalable, water-based method to produce biodegradable bioplastics from amyloid fibrils derived from food proteins, offering an eco-friendly alternative to conventional plastics and addressing plastic pollution.

Contribution

It introduces a novel, simple process to create transparent, flexible bioplastics from amyloid fibrils and biodegradable polymers, emphasizing sustainability and circular economy integration.

Findings

Bioplastics show superior sustainability in life cycle assessment.

The process produces free-standing, transparent, and flexible films.

Amyloid fibrils can be efficiently derived from food industry by-products.

Abstract

Plastic waste production is a global challenging problem since its accumulation in the environment is causing devastating effects on the planet's ecosystem. Sustainable and green solutions are urgently needed, and this pairs with increasingly stronger regulations combined with improved ecological awareness. This study proposes a simple, scalable and water-based process to produce free-standing, transparent and flexible bioplastic films by combining amyloid fibrils with biodegradable polymers as two main building blocks. Amyloid fibrils can be obtained through denaturation and self-assembly from a broad class of food proteins found in milk, soy, and egg, for example. Whey is used here as a model protein, since it is the major by-product of dairy industries, and its valorization creates a valuable opportunity to produce sustainable, biodegradable, and environmentally friendly bioplastics perfectly integrated within a circular economy. Against this background, we highlight the sustainability superiority of these bioplastics over common plastics and bioplastic via a detailed life cycle assessment, anticipating an important role of this new class of bioplastics in mitigating the pressing plastic pollution challenge.