University of Queensland: Berries just the beginning for bioplastic breakthrough
- Global Research Partnerships
- May 15
- 1 min read
University of Queensland researchers have developed a biodegradable plastic that promises to set a new sustainability standard for mass-produced food packaging such as fruit punnets.
Fermented from bacteria and strengthened with Australian wood fibres, the novel biocomposite was produced by PhD candidate Vincent Mathel and Dr Luigi Vandi at UQ’s School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering as a commercial alternative to petrol-based plastics.
Mr Mathel said the biocomposite has been successfully tested as a strawberry punnet that biodegrades completely in soil, fresh water, the ocean and in compost.
"This is a new material that carries all the sustainability benefits of a bio-sourced product while having the same properties as mass-produced plastic packaging and containers,” Mr Mathel said.
“It was also important to us to make a biocomposite that maximises Australian resources to have the added, environmental benefit that it does not need to be imported from overseas.”
Mr Mathel and Dr Vandi spent 3 years perfecting their biocomposite within UQ’s Centre for Advanced Materials Processing and Manufacturing (AMPAM), backed by an assortment of industry collaborators and an Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellowship.
The team created the material by blending bacteria-produced biodegradable polyesters known as polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) with wood fibres taken from Radiata Pine sawdust.
