Circular Economy Strategies: Use of Corn Waste to Develop Biomaterials

Hernán Darío Castaño Castrillón, Carlos Mario Gutiérrez Aguilar and Beatriz Elena Angel Álvarez
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Hernán Darío Castaño Castrillón: Design Department, Arts and Humanities Faculty, Metropolitan Technological Institute (ITM), Medellín 050036, Colombia
Carlos Mario Gutiérrez Aguilar: Design Department, Arts and Humanities Faculty, Metropolitan Technological Institute (ITM), Medellín 050036, Colombia
Beatriz Elena Angel Álvarez: Faculty of Industrial Engineering, Engineering School, Pontifical Bolivarian University (UPB), Medellín 050031, Colombia

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 15, 1-19

Abstract: The circular economy is a process through which elements that have already been used are reincorporated and given a second use so that they can reduce the consumption of virgin raw materials. This article shows how, from the reuse of an agro-industrial waste such as corn husks, a biomaterial can be developed that manages to standardize the properties of materials such as paper and cardboard, thus allowing the development of single-use products that replace the excessive expense of materials such as polymers. In this article, it will be possible to show how from the process of transforming an agro-industrial waste into a raw material base, it is possible not only to reduce the number of raw materials discarded but also to redesign a product that not only contributes to the environmental component but also facilitates the processes of economic sustainability when generating products. As a practical case, a comparison is made between traditional fast-food packaging and how from these, a new packaging proposal can be generated, which starts from the principles of circular economy and complements sustainable design processes to make more efficient manufacturing of the mentioned product.

Keywords: sustainability; food waste; sustainable development; corn; raw materials (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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