Source: WESTERN REGIONAL RES CENTER submitted to NRP
DEVELOP SEAWEED-BASED PACKAGING FILMS THAT ARE THERMALLY PROCESSABLE AND BIODEGRADABLE
Sponsoring Institution
Agricultural Research Service/USDA
Project Status
ACTIVE
Funding Source
USDA INHOUSE
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
0446302
Grant No.
(N/A)
Cumulative Award Amt.
(N/A)
Proposal No.
(N/A)
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
May 1, 2024
Project End Date
Apr 30, 2025
Grant Year
(N/A)
Program Code
[(N/A)]- (N/A)
Recipient Organization
WESTERN REGIONAL RES CENTER
(N/A)
ALBANY,CA 94710
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
(N/A)
Animal Health Component
50%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
40%
Applied
50%
Developmental
10%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
4031310200020%
5021510202020%
5111520200020%
4031530202020%
5021549200020%
Knowledge Area
511 - New and Improved Non-Food Products and Processes; 403 - Waste Disposal, Recycling, and Reuse; 502 - New and Improved Food Products;

Subject Of Investigation
1310 - Potato; 1510 - Corn; 1549 - Wheat, general/other; 1520 - Grain sorghum; 1530 - Rice;

Field Of Science
2020 - Engineering; 2000 - Chemistry;
Goals / Objectives
Develop seaweed-based packaging films that are thermally processable and biodegradable. The goal of this project is to create a home-compostable alternative to flexible plastics derived from seaweed. The end product should match or exceed the performance of traditional, low-density polyethylene (LDPE) plastic packaging. Optimization of Sway's existing seaweed-based formulation for compatibility with standard blown-film extrusion processes will be studied. This will be accomplished through small-scale formulation optimization efforts ilizing the USDA's melt mixer, twin screw extruder, blown and rolled film maker, carver press, and analytical, mechanical, thermal testing equipment.
Project Methods
The Agricultural Research Service, Bioproducts Research Unit at the Western Regional Research Center in Albany, California has considerable research experience in technologies for making biodegradable packaging with dozens of peer-reviewed publications with emphasis on biodegradable plastics and films. The technologies utilized include blow molding and film casting or extrusion. This research all falls within the parameters of research project# 2030-41000-067-00D. We identified Sway as a strategic partner to develop biobased films from seaweed for packaging applications.