The exponential increase in the utilization of synthetic plastic use worldwide, as well as the waste generated afterwards, has been identified as one of the existential threats to the life of our planet. Being generated from renewable sources including animals, microbes and plant biomass, bioplastics are among the most viable and sustainable alternatives to the conventional plastics. However, newer challenges have emerged with respect to these relatively new alternatives; for instance, approximately fifty percent of the current bioplastics in the market biodegrade at a slow rate and are not home compostable, thus compounding more waste management problems.
Thus, this research project between National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Riga Technical University and Kaunas University of Technology is aimed at developing efficient synthesis and thermal processing methods for the production of novel bioplastics and bioplastic composites of various structures with improved biodegradation. In this regard, artificial neural networks will be employed in optimizing the properties of the bioplastics and their composites, as well as the parameters for their thermal processing.
Project funding:
Interngovernmental programme administrated by Research Council of Lithuania: Lithuania–Latvia–China (Taiwan)
Project results:
It is expected that this project will pave the way for the development of industrially viable bioplastics and bioplastics composite production technology with the right balance between affordability, resource management and environmental sustainability.
Period of project implementation: 2025-01-02 - 2027-12-31
Project coordinator: Kaunas University of Technology
Project partners: National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Riga Technical University
