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Department of Education
SCHOOLS DIVISION OF QUEZON CITY^ NATIONAL^ CAPITAL^ REGION GOLDEN ACRES ROAD^ QUEZON COR.^ CITYMISAMIS^ SCIENCE STREET,^ HIGH SCHOOL BAGO BANTAY, QUEZON CITY
Regional Science High School Golden Acres Rd. Cor. Misamis St. Bago Bantay, Quezon City Tel. No. 8- 352 - 5957, CP Nos. 09985948424, 09155426803
Rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum) Peels as an Alternative Base Material for Bioplastic
A Science Investigatory Project Plan Submitted as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements in Research 10
Balagat, Krystal Benitez, Jashlee Vylette Eneres, Hannah Ysabel Mabini, Alodia Grace Manzala, Tchai Lucienne Yzabel
Quezon City Science High School
Department of Education
SCHOOLS DIVISION OF QUEZON CITY^ NATIONAL^ CAPITAL^ REGION GOLDEN ACRES ROAD^ QUEZON COR.^ CITYMISAMIS^ SCIENCE STREET,^ HIGH SCHOOL BAGO BANTAY, QUEZON CITY
Regional Science High School Golden Acres Rd. Cor. Misamis St. Bago Bantay, Quezon City Tel. No. 8- 352 - 5957, CP Nos. 09985948424, 09155426803
RATIONALE
Plastic waste is one of the major pollutants of solid waste throughout the world. The slow degradation rate of plastic waste results in death of billions of living organisms in marine and terrestrial environments.^1 Despite this, corporations continue to produce their products using plastics as it provides low-cost consumer goods to people with lower financial status.^2 Under normal conditions in nature, plastic bottles will begin to break down only after 500-700 years and the process will be very slow. Plastic bags will begin the process only after a thousand years. As plastic’s components do not exist in nature, there are no naturally occurring organism that can break them down effectively or at all.^3
The impacts of plastic waste on our health and the environment are only just becoming apparent. Many of these plastics end up in waters which attract hydrophobic contaminants. Chemicals in plastic-like lead, cadmium and mercury directly can come in contact with humans. These toxins can cause cancers, congenital disabilities, immune system problems and childhood development issues. The other toxins like BPA or health- bisphenol-A are found in plastic bottles and food packaging materials.^4 These all have known negative effects on human and animal health, mainly affecting the endocrine
Department of Education
SCHOOLS DIVISION OF QUEZON CITY^ NATIONAL^ CAPITAL^ REGION GOLDEN ACRES ROAD^ QUEZON COR.^ CITYMISAMIS^ SCIENCE STREET,^ HIGH SCHOOL BAGO BANTAY, QUEZON CITY
Regional Science High School Golden Acres Rd. Cor. Misamis St. Bago Bantay, Quezon City Tel. No. 8- 352 - 5957, CP Nos. 09985948424, 09155426803
accumulation and our reliance on environmentally damaging incineration and landfill disposal. Recycling of these materials not only help in controlling pollution but also provides alternative sources of cheap components in developing affordable bioplastic material.
Manufacturers and consumers discard over twenty different types of plastics, which make it hard and costly to recycle. This leads people to dump their plastic wastes into landfills either or incinerate them.^8
Landfilling is one of the methods of plastic disposal where the plastic degradation is not carried out as per expectations as there is no sufficient oxygen to break down the plastic by microbes. Rubbish buried in landfill breaks down at a very slow rate and remains a problem for future generations. The three main problems with landfill are toxins, leachate, and greenhouse gases. The decaying rubbish produces weak acidic chemicals which combine with liquids in the waste to form leachate and landfill gas.^9
Incineration of plastic waste in open fields is a major source of air pollution. The toxic substances thus released are posing a threat to vegetation, human and animal health and environment as a whole. Polystyrene is harmful to Central Nervous System. The
Department of Education
SCHOOLS DIVISION OF QUEZON CITY^ NATIONAL^ CAPITAL^ REGION GOLDEN ACRES ROAD^ QUEZON COR.^ CITYMISAMIS^ SCIENCE STREET,^ HIGH SCHOOL BAGO BANTAY, QUEZON CITY
Regional Science High School Golden Acres Rd. Cor. Misamis St. Bago Bantay, Quezon City Tel. No. 8- 352 - 5957, CP Nos. 09985948424, 09155426803
hazardous brominated compounds act as carcinogens and mutagens. Dioxins settle on the crops and in our waterways where they eventually enter into our food and hence the body system.^10 The burning of plastics releases toxic gases like dioxins, furans, mercury, and polychlorinated biphenyls (better known as BCPs) into the atmosphere, and poses a threat to vegetation, and human and animal health.^11 New incinerator technologies are prone to failure and ineffective at eliminating plastic pollution. Many companies claim to heat plastic to turn them into oil or energy using new incinerator technologies such as gasification, pyrolysis, and plasma arc. Waste-to-energy plants are expensive to build and operate, which causes them to charge more to tip loads of trash than landfills do. Since plants run most efficiently with steady streams of waste, their owners often need to import material from far away.12,^13
There are over 17,000 plastic factories in China alone, the largest producer and exporter of injection molds and plastics in the world.^14 In estimation, China produces 11. million metric tons of plastic products per year.^15 These plastic production plants contribute greatly to the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Harmful gases from the use of fossil fuels release sulfur dioxide, which helps in the formation of acid rain.^16 The
Department of Education
SCHOOLS DIVISION OF QUEZON CITY^ NATIONAL^ CAPITAL^ REGION GOLDEN ACRES ROAD^ QUEZON COR.^ CITYMISAMIS^ SCIENCE STREET,^ HIGH SCHOOL BAGO BANTAY, QUEZON CITY
Regional Science High School Golden Acres Rd. Cor. Misamis St. Bago Bantay, Quezon City Tel. No. 8- 352 - 5957, CP Nos. 09985948424, 09155426803
Tote bags have been normalized by corporations and business to promote environmental- friendly practices. However, according to a 2018 study by the Ministry of Environment and Food of Denmark, an organic cotton tote needs to be used 20,000 times to offset its overall impact of production and equates to 54 years for just one bag. The director of the New Standard Institute has also discouraged the use of tote bags as throwing it out on bins only results to 15 percent of the 30 million tons of cotton make it back to textile depositories.^21 Studies have also found that using paper bags generate five times more solid waste than plastic bags, since only about 80 percent of all paper bags end up in landfills. Compared to plastic, making a paper bag emits 51 percent more global warming gases, 50 times more water pollution, uses four times more raw materials and consumes energy twice as much. Once used, paper bags are more likely to be torn and disintegrate when wet than be re-used. Paper bags also do not biodegrade very often, due to the lack of oxygen.^22
With this alternative source of bioplastic material, A durable and biodegradable bag will be produced for everyday use. Since Rambutan peels are just often discarded into the
Department of Education
SCHOOLS DIVISION OF QUEZON CITY^ NATIONAL^ CAPITAL^ REGION GOLDEN ACRES ROAD^ QUEZON COR.^ CITYMISAMIS^ SCIENCE STREET,^ HIGH SCHOOL BAGO BANTAY, QUEZON CITY
Regional Science High School Golden Acres Rd. Cor. Misamis St. Bago Bantay, Quezon City Tel. No. 8- 352 - 5957, CP Nos. 09985948424, 09155426803
environment as waste, we can find another use for these, hence solid waste is not just reduced but another potential source of income for rambutan plantation farmers.
The aim of this study is to be able to produce a durable bioplastic bag in order to decrease the number of solid wastes in the environment caused by improper solid waste management. Specifically, to utilize starch obtained from tamarind seeds in improving plastic bags in terms of its biodegradability.
Department of Education
SCHOOLS DIVISION OF QUEZON CITY^ NATIONAL^ CAPITAL^ REGION GOLDEN ACRES ROAD^ QUEZON COR.^ CITYMISAMIS^ SCIENCE STREET,^ HIGH SCHOOL BAGO BANTAY, QUEZON CITY
Regional Science High School Golden Acres Rd. Cor. Misamis St. Bago Bantay, Quezon City Tel. No. 8- 352 - 5957, CP Nos. 09985948424, 09155426803
EXPECTED OUTCOME
The proposed bioplastic from Rambutan Peels will provide similar purposes as other plastics, in reference to its durability and elasticity. The bioplastic will also be biodegradable to prevent the pollution of plastics to our environment.
Department of Education
SCHOOLS DIVISION OF QUEZON CITY^ NATIONAL^ CAPITAL^ REGION GOLDEN ACRES ROAD^ QUEZON COR.^ CITYMISAMIS^ SCIENCE STREET,^ HIGH SCHOOL BAGO BANTAY, QUEZON CITY
Regional Science High School Golden Acres Rd. Cor. Misamis St. Bago Bantay, Quezon City Tel. No. 8- 352 - 5957, CP Nos. 09985948424, 09155426803
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
The general topic of the sources under discussion is about using the exocarp of Rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum) for the production of biodegradable plastic.
Mechanisms of Bioplastic
In a study published by the Universiti Sains Malaysia, researchers announced the prospect of inventing biodegradable plastic materials composed of tropical fruit waste powder mixture using rambutan skin, plastic additives and a composition of other binding materials. Rambutan skin is made up of natural polymers with high starch content for bioplastic application. With similar major polysaccharide components as that of banana peels and jackfruit seeds, rambutan skin was used as the main material of the study. The mechanism of bioplastic is environmentally-friendly, since another available method — the use of petrochemical plastics from non-renewable sources — contributes to disposal of more synthetic waste. Utilizing biomaterials from fruit waste easily reduces the potential increase of production of chemical pollutants and global emissions found in
Department of Education
SCHOOLS DIVISION OF QUEZON CITY^ NATIONAL^ CAPITAL^ REGION GOLDEN ACRES ROAD^ QUEZON COR.^ CITYMISAMIS^ SCIENCE STREET,^ HIGH SCHOOL BAGO BANTAY, QUEZON CITY
Regional Science High School Golden Acres Rd. Cor. Misamis St. Bago Bantay, Quezon City Tel. No. 8- 352 - 5957, CP Nos. 09985948424, 09155426803
The previous research had the objective of developing a biodegradable plastic based on fruit waste powder mixture. The methods include processing the fruit waste skins into fine powder, mixing the fruit waste powder mixture with a binding mixture consisting of a plasticizer, a cross-linking agent, and a surfactant, and forming the biodegradable plastic product. Another method stated was crushing the fruit peels into powder, mixing the ground peel with a mixing material, molding the mixture, and spraying dust suppressant material to increase protection properties.
Base Materials
The previous research used the skin from a processed fruit, such as rambutan, banana and jackfruit to make a biodegradable plastic, but this related literature is essential for the research because it also introduced another method that only uses rambutan skin. The method calls for dried and pulverized rambutan skin and a binding mixture composed of plasticizers, a cross-linking agent, and a surfactant.
Department of Education
SCHOOLS DIVISION OF QUEZON CITY^ NATIONAL^ CAPITAL^ REGION GOLDEN ACRES ROAD^ QUEZON COR.^ CITYMISAMIS^ SCIENCE STREET,^ HIGH SCHOOL BAGO BANTAY, QUEZON CITY
Regional Science High School Golden Acres Rd. Cor. Misamis St. Bago Bantay, Quezon City Tel. No. 8- 352 - 5957, CP Nos. 09985948424, 09155426803
Rambutan Skin
Rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum) is a native Southeast Asian fruit. The rambutan consists of 40% edible parts and 60% of peel and seed. Rambutan contains a significant amount of skin and seeds, both of which are discarded as trash. This can produce waste problems that have negative environmental impacts if it is not managed properly. It is desirable to combine Rambutan skin into biodegradable polymers because Rambutan skin have a high lignin content of 35.34% (w/w), cellulose of 24.28% (w/w), and hemicellulose of 11.62% (w/w). This shows that Rambutan peel is an appealing target for alternative uses in terms of waste reduction and in creating environmentally- friendly plastics with a higher biodegradability rate.
Glycerin
Glycerin, also known as glycyl alcohol, glycerol, or glycerine, is an organic compound with three carbon atoms and three hydroxyl groups, making it hygroscopic and water-soluble. Glycerin is a colorless, odorless, and sweet liquid made from the saponification of natural fats and oils. The glycerin acts as a plasticizer in the production
Department of Education
SCHOOLS DIVISION OF QUEZON CITY^ NATIONAL^ CAPITAL^ REGION GOLDEN ACRES ROAD^ QUEZON COR.^ CITYMISAMIS^ SCIENCE STREET,^ HIGH SCHOOL BAGO BANTAY, QUEZON CITY
Regional Science High School Golden Acres Rd. Cor. Misamis St. Bago Bantay, Quezon City Tel. No. 8- 352 - 5957, CP Nos. 09985948424, 09155426803
Acquisition of Materials
Sanitizing of Rambutan Skin
Drying of Rambutan Skin
Pulverizing and Mixing of Powdered Rambutan Skin and
Air-drying of the Composite
Testing of the bioplastic’s properties
Data Evaluation
METHODOLOGY
Flowchart
Department of Education
SCHOOLS DIVISION OF QUEZON CITY^ NATIONAL^ CAPITAL^ REGION GOLDEN ACRES ROAD^ QUEZON COR.^ CITYMISAMIS^ SCIENCE STREET,^ HIGH SCHOOL BAGO BANTAY, QUEZON CITY
Regional Science High School Golden Acres Rd. Cor. Misamis St. Bago Bantay, Quezon City Tel. No. 8- 352 - 5957, CP Nos. 09985948424, 09155426803
Acquisition of Materials
120 grams of Red Rambutans will be bought from a local market in Talipapa, Quezon City. A bottle of Glycerin will be purchased at a local hardware store. Through an online shop, spring scale and glass surface will be bought. Distilled water amounting to 400mL, as well as 3.5 grams of gelatin and 5mL of vinegar will be bought at a local supermarket. Additionally, an oven, strainer, metal pot, blender, mixer, and scissors will be acquired and borrowed from one of the researchers.
Sanitizing of Rambutan Skin
The rambutan skin will be separated from its fruit and will be washed with distilled water. Sanitizing rambutan skins is essential to remove contaminants.
Department of Education
SCHOOLS DIVISION OF QUEZON CITY^ NATIONAL^ CAPITAL^ REGION GOLDEN ACRES ROAD^ QUEZON COR.^ CITYMISAMIS^ SCIENCE STREET,^ HIGH SCHOOL BAGO BANTAY, QUEZON CITY
Regional Science High School Golden Acres Rd. Cor. Misamis St. Bago Bantay, Quezon City Tel. No. 8- 352 - 5957, CP Nos. 09985948424, 09155426803
Air-drying of the Composite
After 24 hours, the composite will be stirred and mixed thoroughly for 10 minutes and will be heated for four minutes using a stove. The heated composite will be spread onto a 8 -inch by 10 -inch glass surface with the use of a picture frame as the medium. The composite will then be left for 48 hours at room temperature.
Testing of the bioplastic’s properties
To measure the durability of the bioplastic, The Fatigue Test will be conducted— a test in which the bioplastic will be folded repeatedly until the bag tears. A test will also be performed to measure the bioplastic’s elasticity where the bioplastics’ measurement will be recorded, then stretched for three seconds. After the experiment, the bioplastic’s measurements will be taken again, and if the sizes change then the bag is not elastic enough. A spring scale will be used to test the bioplastic’s tensile strength. The scale will be hanged on a solid point where it does not sway, and the bioplastic on its other end. Weights will then be placed and the changes in length will be measured and recorded until the bag breaks. The Soil Burial test will be performed on the bioplastic to test its
Department of Education
SCHOOLS DIVISION OF QUEZON CITY^ NATIONAL^ CAPITAL^ REGION GOLDEN ACRES ROAD^ QUEZON COR.^ CITYMISAMIS^ SCIENCE STREET,^ HIGH SCHOOL BAGO BANTAY, QUEZON CITY
Regional Science High School Golden Acres Rd. Cor. Misamis St. Bago Bantay, Quezon City Tel. No. 8- 352 - 5957, CP Nos. 09985948424, 09155426803
biodegradability. The bioplastic will be cut into dumbbell shaped specimen and buried in natural soil for a period of six weeks. The buried specimens will be collected every 7 days and washed gently with distilled water. The specimens were then left to dry at room temperature until a constant weight is obtained.
Evaluation of Results
The bioplastic bag’s ability to biodegrade and resist tears and breaking will be recorded. The efficacy of the bioplastic bag will depend on how the bag to resist tears and to biodegrade over time. The higher the number of the folds, the more durable the bag is; The lesser the change in the measurement of the bag, the more elastic it is. The higher the number of weights it can withstand, the more tensile it is and; The more weight the bioplastic has lost, the better its biodegradability.
