Optimum of Biodegradable Plate Production from Banana Trunk Waste by Taguchi Methods

Single-use plastic waste disposal is a global problem affecting our planet not only with the pollution but also with the natural resource (fossil fuel) depletion. This study is aimed to provide a general waste recycling process from agriculture waste of banana fibre to produce biodegradable plates which are promised to replace single-use plastic products and reduce the usage of raw material for plastic production. With the characteristic of high strength fibre from the trunk, banana (Musaceae) can be applied for producing composite material or paper. These banana trunks were pretreated by cooking with sodium carbonate solution and then blended in a mixer for different timing to form a pulp. Additives (starch) with different percentage were added to the pulp after cooking to enhance the properties of plates. Finally, the pulp was formed by a plate machine to make products. To optimize the production process, the effects of sodium carbonate concentration, cooking time, percentage of starch, and thickness of product were evaluated using an L16 orthogonal array design by Taguchi method. The optimum conditions for suitable biodegradable plates production were determined as sodium carbonate concentration of 10%, cooking time of 45 minutes, 15% percentage of starch and weight of pulp, 45 g. The tensile stress and weight load of the optimum product were 8 N/mm2 and 35 g/mm2, respectively. From these results, the product from the banana fibre can be believed to use as material for making biodegradable plates to mitigate the pollution problem in modern cities.