Apple recycling

Recycled newspaper has traditionally been the main ingredient of so-called molded pulp packaging products, which have become increasingly popular because they are compostable. But the supply of recycled newspaper is in decline, creating a market for substitute materials.

 

Yanyun Zhao, an Oregon State professor who leads a research team focusing on sustainable food packaging and processing, has studied apple pomace and other byproducts from processing fruit and vegetable juice and winemaking as an alternative for recycled newspaper in molded pulp manufacturing. She and the team received a patent for this research.

Zhao envisions apple pomace being the main ingredient for molded pulp packing products such as take-out containers, flower pots, beverage cartons and bottles and clamshell packaging used for fruits and vegetables. 

 

She is focused on apple pomace, in part, because it is readily available in the Pacific Northwest. When apples are processed for juice about 70-75% of the apple goes into the juice, leaving the remaining 25-30% as pomace.

 

One of the key problems to solve in creating pomace and paper-based packaging is improving water resistance so that it could withstand high moisture, liquid food or non-food items and products stored under high humidity conditions.