Utilization of Solid Waste from Sago Flour Industry (Sago Pith Waste) as Biodegradable Plastic

摘要

Plastic has been widely recognized in people's daily lives. Plastic is a synthetic polymer made from crude oil with various additives. Plastic waste is one of global problem because it takes thousands of years to decompose. There has been solution proposed, one of which is the use of biodegradable plastic. In this study we have used starch from sago waste, especially sago pith waste. The aims of this study (1) to synthesize biodegradable plastic based on sago waste starch; (2) to get the characteristics of biodegradable plastic. Biodegradable plastic was synthesized using starch from sago pith waste with various concentration (5 gr, 10 gr, 15 gr, and 20 gr) mixed with glycerin and aquades. Biodegradable plastic dough was printed and heated in an oven at 1200C for 12 hours Then, the solutions were heated in a magnetic stirrer at temperature 1500C and 600 rpm for 25 minutes. The aspects studied were moisture absorption, tensile strength, elongation, and biodegradability. The results show that plastic based sago waste has the best water absorption was at a composition of 20 gr of starch with value 6.075%. Also, the best tensile strength and elongation were in the composition of 10 gr of starch with values of 2.694 N/mm2 and 18.015%, respectively. Soil burial test method shows biodegradable plastic can be degraded with 80% presentation after 20 days. The addition of a large concentration of starch would accelerate degradation process,but decrease moisture absorption. It’s indicated that sago pith waste starch shows the high potential for making biodegradable plastic.