Volume 4,Issue 6
Making Eco-Friendly Tea Packaging from Arecanut Leaf Sheath
Areca leaf sheath is a kind of agricultural waste, which has a certain thickness, stiffness, and mechanical strength. It is strong and plastic, and has development potential in the field of environmental protection packaging. The existing leaf sheath processing products are all primary processing products, which generally have defects such as rough surfaces and insufficient mechanical strength, which limit their large-scale application. In this study, tea packaging containers were prepared from areca leaf sheath by a pure physical process of pretreatment, water soaking, cooking, hot pressing, cooling, and finishing. The process parameters were evaluated, and the optimum process conditions were determined as follows: molding pressure 2.0 MPa, molding temperature 150℃, holding time 6 min. The container has a smooth surface, dense microstructure, stable size, no crack stratification, and good waterproof and bearing capacity. The process has no chemical addition and low cost, which provides a high-value utilization way for agricultural waste, helps to alleviate plastic pollution, and promotes green manufacturing and the circular economy.
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