Molded fiber and pulp products as green and sustainable alternatives to plastics: A mini review
Yanling Zhang, Chao Duan, Swetha Kumari Bokka, Zhibin He, Yonghao Ni
Abstract
There are significant incentives/pressures on decreasing the use of plastics and their related products in the packaging industry, correspondingly, strong demands are emerging for clean, renewable, recyclable/ biodegradable packaging products. In this context, molded fiber/pulp products have attracted increasing attention, due to their green/sustainable advantages, simply because the raw materials used are plant-based and/or recycled fibers. Many companies have switched their packing practices from plastics to more environmentally friendly products, such as molded fiber products, which already have had and will continue to have obvious effect on packaging industries. This paper initially provides an overview on the general concept of molded pulp products, and further summarizes the different types of molded fiber products in terms of natural fiber sources, manufacturing processes, current and emerging applications as well as the environmental sustainability of molded products.