In the packaging industry, cushioning products are usually made of plastic materials, such as polystyrene. The insulation and lightweight character make it more popular and convenient to use. However, the extensive use of it creates more waste leading to an environmental problem. Usually the cushioning foams are discarded after being used for inbox protection as packaging material; eventually they end up in a landfill. Most plastic foams are not biodegradable, which cannot be composted and will create more and more waste that affects the ecological system. In the mean time, foams made up of bio-degradable materials are considered. In general, biodegradable plastics are starch-based or cellulose-based, and the biodegradable components can be found in corn (e.g. corn starch, and corn cob). Instead of extracting the corn component, here popped corn kernel will be investigated for its suitability in packaging applications.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.81610 |
| Date | January 2005 |
| Creators | Cheng, Hoi Po, 1975- |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Science (Department of Bioresource Engineering.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 002227410, proquestno: AAIMR12413, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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