Conventional food packaging materials are generally petroleum-based non-biodegradable polymers such as PET, PE, PP, PS etc. These materials could take up to 500 years to degrade in the natural environment. My research seeks an alternative to single-use plastic packaging and cellulosic fibres extracted from plant biomasses have a significant potential for this. These moulded paper-based food packages were developed from cellulose fibres extracted from different agricultural biomasses - bagasse and wheat straw.
![Cardboard food package containers lined up on a table](https://www.uoguelph.ca/research/system/files/Moulded%20paper%20based%20food%20packages%20developed%20from%20extracted%20cellulose.jpg)