UTILIZATION OF SOLID WASTE FROM REFINED SUGAR INDUSTRY (FILTER CAKE) AS BIODEGRADABLE FOAM (BIOFOAM)
Sandra Wulan (a*), Didi Rukmana (a), Muh. Sjahrul (a)
a. Environmental Management Study Program. Graduate School of Hasanuddin University.
Kampus Unhas Tamalanrea. Jalan Perintis Kemerdekaan KM. 10. Makassar, South Sulawesi.
*email : sandra.haerdy[at]gmail.com
Abstract
Abstract Biodegradable foam (biofoam) is an enviromentally fiendly alternative packaging for styrofoam. This study aims at synthesizing biofoam from filter cake waste, obtain its characteristics and determining the economic feasibility of developing the produced biofoam product. The study was conducted with descriptive experimental methods and economic feasibility studied through the circulation of NPV and PI. The result indicate that the biofoam with addition of 15% w/w glycerol plasticizer has the best characteristics which contained the lowest value of moisture content (6,321%) and water absorption index (17,181%) and also has tensile strength (6,7778 N/mm2) and elongation (174,5%) higher than styrofoam packaging. All biofoam samples can be degraded completely within 25-30 days. Addition of plasticizer generally affects the characteristics of biofoam. Based on the analysis of the economic feasibility studies, the development of filter cake based biofoam products is feasible ( positive NPV; PI > 1).
Keywords: filter cake, biodegradable foam, plasticizer, glycerol, waste.
Topic: Waste to Energy Potential Resources