Bioplastic is a product that is free of chemical substances or plastic polymers and is produced based on natural materials. Nowadays,bioplastic is mainly produced from potato and corn raw materials around the world. Nevertheless,the bioplastic industry accounts for only 3 percent of the plastic industry. In our project, we propose a technology for obtaining bioplastic from reed raw materials.

Advantages:

• reed is used in the production of paper and fuel;
• when reeds are grown,they absorb significant amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

The advantages of bioplastic:

• the affordability of sugarcane(100g plastic–1 USD; 100g bioplastic–0.30 USD);
• bioplastic doesn't contain toxic substances;
• safe for human health and animals world;
• bioplastics have the property of durability;
• biodegrades quickly in nature;
• bioplastics provide sustainability against long-term price fluctuations.

Where is the project implemented:

In Uzbekistan,Surkhandaryo region,the city of Termez,in areas where reeds grow naturally,this enables the development of production,improvement of services,facilitation of reed distribution,and creation of opportunities to provide local residents with employment.

Because of reed is a renewable raw material, there is no risk of residues remaining in deliveries to sectors.

We subjected bioplastic products obtained from reed raw materials to the following laboratory tests:

1. Water resistance(by AATCC42 device):
• in cold water–13 days(during this period,no brittleness occurred,and durability increased);
• in hot water–1 day and 11 hours(during this period,no brittleness occurred,and durability increased).
2. Heat resistance–at 280°C–37 minutes(during this time,it reached a plastic state).
3. Biodegradation after burial in soil–87–118 days(during this period,it degraded and converted into organic matter for soil).
4. Effect on human organism–biodegraded within 7–23 minutes after entering the organism and passed through without harm(Information:due to this feature,bioplastic is considered advantageous for producing toys for 3–7 year-old children in Japan ).

Bioplastics can be used to produce these following products:

• bioplastic containers;
• bioplastic packaging products;
• polyethylene bags;
• single-use dishes.

Why do we need bioplastics?

1. To mitigate ecological damage.
2. Creating the possibility to produce environmentally friendly products replacing plastic.
3. Protecting human health and preventing harm to the environment(Information:due to plastic,nearly 700 species of animals are at risk of extinction,and humans ingest about 7 milligrams of micro plastics per day).

The advantage of our bioplastic derived from reed raw material over other plastics:

1. The affordability of sugarcane-based bioplastics;
2. The strength of bioplastics made from reed raw material are high than compared to others;
3. The rapid decomposition and non-toxicity of sugarcane-derived bioplastics;
4. High demand in the region of Uzbekistan.