Indian Institute of Packaging (IIP) an autonomous body which was set up by the packaging and allied industries and the Ministry of Commerce, Government of India in 1966 under Societies Registration Act,1860 with the specific objective of improving the packaging standards and excellency in the country. There are permanent campuses of the institute in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kakinada SEZ in East Godavari district with 25 acres (10 ha) of land and there is plan to open new campus in Guwahati and Lucknow.It offers a two-year postgraduate diploma in packaging at Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Kolkata. Testing and packaging facilities are at Ahmedabad and Chennai. It also offers packaging testing facilities, laboratories and consultation for packaging development and improvement..
Polymer additives play an important role in retaining, enhancing, and modifying the properties of polymers for various end-use applications such as construction, automotive, electronics, pharmaceuticals, food, and medical industries. Polyolefin-based products are particularly significant in the packaging industry due to their low cost and large-scale availability in the market. The demand for polyolefin products in the form of bottles, jars, drums, cans and other types of containers has increased exponentially due to their sustainability, high recyclability, light weight, chemical resistance, barrier properties, and lower carbon footprint compared to other packaging materials. Additives such as UV stabilizers, antioxidants, processing aids and pigments are required for the processing and long-term stability of polyolefin-based products. Simultaneously, it is essential that these chemical additives be either eco-friendly or have reduced hazardous effects after migration into the environment. This review presents the most recent advances in research and development of functional additives for polyolefin materials. Emphasis is placed on the basic understanding of various types of antioxidant stabilizers and their reaction mechanisms involved in polymer stabilization. Different formulations of stabilizers, antioxidants, and processing aids are discussed, including their concentrations and specific applications. Additionally, the hazardous effects of chemicals present in additives and their migration into the environment are addressed. Finally, the use of bio-based functional additives and their formulations in polyolefin materials is encouraged and discussed in light of environmental, health, regulatory, and economic issues.
Rapid expansion of e-commerce and projected growth of the world’s population to about 10 billion by 2050, have intensified the demand for sustainable protective packaging solutions. Conventional petroleum-derived cushioning materials like EPS, EPE create white pollution due to their non-degradability and generation of secondary microplastics and nanoplastics, leading to an ecological crisis. In contrast, agro-waste-derived cushioning materials offer a viable and biodegradable solution that can help tackle packaging waste as well as green waste. This review critically examines the potential sources of agricultural waste, like rice straw, mycelium, cornstover, water hyacinth, and coconut husk, etc., and their properties, making them a suitable candidate for the production of sustainable cushioning material. It consolidates the findings on their chemical composition, mechanical testing parameters, and environmental compatibility. It also outlines the key challenges, like hydrophilicity, microbial susceptibility, and a lack of a unified testing framework for mechanical testing and cushion curve analysis of such biofoams. Furthermore, it emphasizes the need to replace the obsolete bursting strength metric with more relevant impact-based testing resonating with agro-waste-derived cushioning material. Future research should prioritize the development of standardized testing guidelines, optimization of formulations, ramping up production, and exploration of underutilized agricultural residues, and evaluating their long-term performance, biodegradability, and end-of-life behavior.
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) cause 74
The current investigation evaluates the impact of Eri-silk fibroin (SF) on the mechanical properties of polymer nanocomposites and explores their potential applications. Eri SF, a natural biopolymer, is incorporated into various polymer matrices to enhance their mechanical characteristics. Eri silk fibroin (Philosamia ricini), renowned for its unique semi-crystalline structure and superior biocompatibility, was integrated into polymer nanocomposites to investigate its influence on mechanical performance. The incorporation of optimized fibroin nanofillers led to notable improvements in tensile strength, elasticity, and impact resistance of the polymer matrix. Microstructural analysis revealed enhanced interfacial bonding between fibroin and the polymer phase, resulting in superior load transfer and structural integrity. Comparative evaluation demonstrated a significant increase in mechanical modulus with minimal compromise in flexibility. The study concludes that Eri silk fibroin serves as a sustainable and high-performance reinforcement agent in polymer nanocomposite design, opening new possibilities for advanced biopolymer engineering and eco-friendly material applications. By examining key properties, such as tensile strength, flexibility, and durability, we assess how the addition of Eri silk fibroin influences the performance of these nanocomposites. The structural, optical, and mechanical properties of silk fibers have been analyzed using several techniques, including scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and tensile testing. In addition, numerical studies on stress–strain response and potential energy evolution reveal a linear increase in stress from 0.7 to 8 MPa with strain up to 6
