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Updated: Apr 20, 2026

Scalable Step-by-Step Approach of Sustainable Bioplastic Production from Food Waste
Published on: July 18, 2025
Plasticizer and surfactant formation from food-waste- and algal biomass-derived lipids
Daniel Pleissner1, Kin Yan Lau1, Chengwu Zhang2
1School of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong (PR China).
Abstract:
The potential of lipids derived from food-waste and algal biomass (produced from food-waste hydrolysate) for the formation of plasticizers and surfactants is investigated herein. Plasticizers were formed by epoxidation of double bonds of methylated unsaturated fatty acids with in situ generated peroxoformic acid. Assuming that all unsaturated fatty acids are convertible, 0.35 and 0.40 g of plasticizer can be obtained from 1 g of crude algae- or food-waste-derived lipids, respectively. Surfactants were formed by transesterification of saturated and epoxidized fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) with polyglycerol. The addition of polyglycerol would result in a complete conversion of saturated and epoxidized FAMEs to fatty acid polyglycerol esters. This study successfully demonstrates the conversion of food-waste into value-added chemicals using simple and conventional chemical reactions.
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