CASSAVA - A BOOST FOR BIODEGRADEDABLES

CASSAVA (Manihot esculenta) is a woody shrub native to South America of the spurge family from Euphorbiaceae family. Although cassava as a perennial plant, cassava is extensively cultivated as an annual crop in tropical and subtropical regions for its edible starchy tuberous root, a major source of carbohydrates. While manufacturing the biodegradable food packaging is not exactly a new thing in Malaysia as one local company is attempting to take the industry to the next level. Nature’s Harmony Industries Sdn Bhd (NHI) is working hard on spreading the use of starch from plants, specifically tapioca starch derived from the cassava plant or ubi kayu in Malay, in the manufacturing of food packaging. The raw material for manufacturing of the biodegradables can come from many sources. Some derive their raw material for manufacturing the packaging from spent oil palm husks and bagasse (sugarcane fibre after the juice has been squeezed out). According to Chief executive officer R. Meyyanathan, who originally started off in parking management, said at one point during his career, he had gotten to know a Taiwanese expatriate residing in Malaysia who was marking food platters made out of tapioca. Blog "Anim Agriculture Technology" write about the important of cassava as a boost of biodegradedables.

The company interested in the technology and then decided to get the technology patented in Malaysia in 2004. He then started working on reducing the costs of manufacturing such products through research and development. The process took about nine years before he decided it was time to start marketing his “premix” products, the intermediate starch powder between the cassava plants and the final molded products. He describes himself as part of the “mid-stream” in processing tapioca as a viable material for manufacturing biodegradable products. Besides being a popular food crop, tapioca is increasingly being used to make biodegradable materials. Many have the upstream, where it’s mainly about planting and harvesting the raw material. Then mid-stream is where the tapioca is processed into premixed starch powder, and if needed, mixed with additives depending on the requirements of customers. There is the downstream sector, where the premix is actually moulded into the final packaging forms desired. Generally, it can take about eight months to grow the fast-maturing variant of cassava, and at this point, we are also working with our upstream suppliers on how to reduce wastage further. For the mid-stream, where NHI is concentrating, the focus is more on coming up with a different variety of premixes so as to create items with different levels of tensile hardness for manufacturers downstream. One of the challenges for NHI is the supply of raw material because tapioca is also a major food ingredient in Malaysia.

According to Zahrul Rosli, NHI’s head of R&D, to generate 2,400 tonnes of premix requires about 10,000 tonnes of tapioca. That translates to approximately 250ha of land for that 10,000 tonnes,” said Meyyanathan, adding that the 2,400 tonnes of premix can be used create about 120 million units of biodegradable products, each with an average weight of 20gm. The other challenge is that of price and demand, especially among end-users, such as hawkers and eateries.  One reason is that making biodegradable food packing products, at least in Malaysia, is more expensive than the widely used polystyrene (PS) products. A piece of the biodegradable food packaging costs on average, about 20 sen compared to PS items that are less than 10 sen. PS is a major headache because it is practically immortal and takes up more and more space in increasingly filled dump sites. Meyyanathan said his company’s products degrade within 28 days when disposed of, adding that the starch and final moulded products have been tested by national standards body Sirim Bhd for the claims. Sometimes plates come out malformed or deficient in other ways as this as an acceptable loss, given that NHI is primarily focusing on research and mid-stream production of starch premixes, rather than actual production itself. In storage their products have a shelf-life of about six years and they are food-safe or even the additives are food safe, having been tested. Jokingly, the CEO added that the starch-based plate could be eaten in a pinch.

The company are trying to improve the manufacturing aspect by turning to more affordable machinery from China. Currently the company relies on German technology and coatings, such as the food-grade stiffeners applied to the products after they come off the heat mould to water-proof them. Right now we are tying up with some local universities to replicate the coating, which will also result in a more economical alternative. Other attempts to lower costs include fully utilising the fibrous and woody stems of the tapioca plant for other products. NHI is studying the possibility of using the stem material for furniture production while leaves can be used for animal or marine feed. Basically we are looking at zero wastage and even though local demand is low, NHI has already tied-up with overseas clients in the US and South Korea. Overall, more enquiries come from overseas than locally. According to statistics from Smithers Printing Industry Research Association International Ltd, the 2010 biodegradable food packaging industry was worth about ‚167bil (RM756bil), with Asia itself contributing ‚50.87bil to the total. Although NHI itself is a mid-stream supplier for premixes, the company also runs two moulding lines which manufacture simple biodegradable disposable plates. In generall the wastage rate if we run our own machine lines is about g45%, but because we are mainly doing it for R&D, so it is not so bad. Overseas is much more lucrative because green awareness and eco-consciousness is more developed in those countries, to put it nicely. And to create more awareness locally the company will be pursuing potential tie-ups, such as with local councils that are pursuing their own green initiatives, as well as travelling to schools to distribute their biodegradable food packaging. ‘The main thing first is to create more awareness, and on our end, to work on lowering the costs to the point of affordability while still keeping it viable. Thanks...

By,

M Anim,

Melaka City, Melaka,

Malaysia.

(September 2020).