Cornelia Poku
May 11, 2021
You know the aisle—chips in shiny plastic bags, candy in glistening wrappers, drinks in the multicolored bottles just waiting to release pent-up carbonation. Delicious as much of our favorite salty and sweet snacks are, unfortunately, nearly all of them are encased in wrappers or containers that will end up piled high at a trash facility or clogging waterways and oceans.
With the realization that we’re not going to stop snacking anytime soon, companies are scrambling to develop sustainable and safe food packaging alternatives.
Dr. Lindleen Mugwagwa, a chemical engineer and postdoctoral fellow at South Africa’s Stellenbosch University Department of Process Engineering has been working on plastic food packaging that is made from wheat straw and mango peel extracts.