Plastic Production From Cane Leaves

This plastic was produced in laboratories to MSIRI Reduced from dried cane leaves, but also from the vinasse, a liquid obtained after distillation of molasses for the production of alcohol or ethanol. This research institute has also successfully produced bioplastics from bagasse.

MSIRI has developed a method to obtain bio-plastic made ??from leavescane molasses and vinasse.
  This bioplastic, biodegradable and compostable, can be used in particular for the production of disposable items, such as packaging items and food (dishes, cutlery, pots, bowls, straws). It is also used to produce bags used by supermarkets, because the plastic is as strong as agro plastic obtained from crude oil. Some trays and containers for fruit, vegetables, eggs and meat, bottles for beverages and dairy products and blister foils for fruit and vegetables, pens or disposable razors are also made ??from the agro plastic.
 "The innovative aspect of this research is the use MSIRI straw and cane vinasse as a raw material for the synthesis of bioplastics by certain bacteria in order to reduce the production cost of PHAs," says Dr. Saumtally, director of MSIRI.
Saumtally Salem , director of MSIRI , Umrith Gunshiam and Ganeshan Seelavarn worked from readily available raw materials on the island. (Left to right)
  The cost of production of bioplastics , plastic or agro , but still higher than the plastic made during the process of refining crude oil .
 The plastic agro was still the future because of bans and high taxes imposed increasingly petrochemical plastic puts 400 years to degrade . The agro plastic degrades in a few weeks and can be turned into fertilizer.
 MSIRI which is among the top three research centers cane in the world but has not engage in the production of agricultural plastic . "We are now finalizing the so-called production protocols . After we will offer technical production to the Mauritian sugar industry or any local or foreign companies interested in the production of bioplastics , "says Dr. Ganeshan .
 Research on the production of bioplastics from dried sugar cane leaves were financed by the European Union. This is Dr. Saumtally , director of MSIRI who initiated the search. He then passed the baton to Dr. Ganeshan Seelavarn and Umrith Gunshiam .
 This production is 100% Mauritian , insofar as the Institute researchers have identified the first place readily available in Mauritius for their transformation process dry leaves of the cane , bagasse and vinasse bacteria. If bagasse is prized for power generation in thermal power plants now, the dried leaves of the cane are left in the fields if they are not burned "accidentally" to facilitate the cane harvest .
 Vinasse , liquid waste from the distillation of molasses is poured in some fields now. Resistance is growing against this practice because of the strong and unpleasant that vinasse transformed into chemical fertilizer smell. See more details in the Sunday Express of 25 August.