Harvesting

The potatoes and peels can be harvested as an agricultural waste product from food production industries. China is the world’s largest potato producer followed by India, Russia, Ukraine and the United States. The starch is made into a semi-finished product that is widely applicable called TPS or Thermoplastic Starch.

Forming Methods

Can be formed via extrusion, injection molding, compression moulding and solution casing. Toyota Motor Corp uses mainly PLA bio-plastics, derived from sweet potatoes corn and sugar beet, reinforced with kenaf to produce components for its cars such as the Prius and Lexus. Suitable material for the production of drug capsules by pharmaceutical sector. Starch-based films are used for packaging purposes like magazine wrappings, bubble wrap and food packaging for bakery or produce items. It may also be formed into paper.

Sustainability

Starch-based bioplastic are often blended with biodegradable polyester to produce starch blends. These blends are used for industrial applications and are compostable. Other brands like Roquette have made other starch and polyolefin blends, but these blends are not biodegradable. They do have a lower carbon footprint than petroleum based plastics. Starch is cheap, abundant and renewable.

Physical Properties

Pure starch based bioplastic is brittle. Plasticizer such as glycerol can be added so it is processed thermo-plastically and can be tailored to specific needs. Coatings are developed to make the material more resilient because it lacks strength and elasticity and dissolves in water. TPS can be mixed with regular plastic or plasticizers the make the material more water sensitive and more flexible. Pure starch can absorb humidity. Improved thermal stability, moisture resistance and gas barrier properties.