Transformation of high-carbohydrate food wastes into degradable plastics

Conference · Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1990

OSTI ID:7174247

Bonsignore, P V; Tsai, S P; Tsai, T S; Coleman, R D

An abundant and little-used resource that is available for bioconversion to higher value products is our own agricultural waste streams. Billions of pounds of carbohydrates in food waste can be readily bioconverted to products such as lactic acid. Argonne is developing a process to rapidly convert starch in potato waste to D- and L-lactic acid. Prime considerations are the cost of production and end used for lactic acid such as degradable materials, mostly for agricultural applications in mulch films, sustained-release systems for fertilizers and pesticides, etc. This paper reports other applications for polylactic acid and plastics and also discusses the prototype process being developed at Argonne to make low-cost lactic acid. 1 tab.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Lab., IL (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE/CE
• DOE Contract Number: W-31109-ENG-38
• OSTI ID: 7174247
• Report Number(s): CONF-9002116-1; ON: DE90010414
• Resource Relation: Conference: Conference on fermentation technologies, Palmerston North (New Zealand), 12-15 Feb 1990
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
BIOCONVERSION
PROCESS CONTROL
FOOD INDUSTRY
WASTE PRODUCT UTILIZATION
LACTIC ACID
AGRICULTURE
CARBOHYDRATES
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
FERTILIZERS
LEGISLATION
MARKETING
PESTICIDES
PLASTICS
POLYMERS
POTATOES
TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT
WASTE MANAGEMENT
CARBOXYLIC ACIDS
CONTROL
ECONOMICS
FOOD
HYDROXY ACIDS
INDUSTRY
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
ORGANIC ACIDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PETROCHEMICALS
PETROLEUM PRODUCTS
PLANTS
SYNTHETIC MATERIALS
TUBERS
VEGETABLES
320305* - Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization- Industrial & Agricultural Processes- Industrial Waste Management