A Comprehensive Review on Development, Biodegradable Properties and Environmental Impacts of Packaging Materials

Abstract

With the continuous expansion of food processing and biomedical industries, the consumption of disposable packaging rises every year. Petroleum, plastic and laminated paper packaging cause microplastic pollution, resource waste and other ecological risks. Driven by global carbon neutrality and plastic restriction policies, biodegradable eco-packaging has become a key research field. This paper adopts two ways, literature review and life cycle assessment (LCA), as research methods, which sort out the evolution of packaging types, for instance, traditional plastic, plain paper, polylactic-acid (PLA) and polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) biopolymers, rice straw composite substrates and curcumin-zein active films, comparing their biodegradation mechanisms, physical performance, merits and drawbacks. With LCA experimental data of blueberry containers, environmental burdens under four waste treatments, including recycling, industrial composting, landfill and incineration, are quantified. Relevant experimental results prove that rice straw-reinforced polylactic acid (RPLA) composite packaging generates the lowest carbon emission in all scenarios. Curcumin-zein composite films integrate antibacterial, UV-blocking and fully biodegradable functions, yet the cost of mass commercial production remains high. Multi-layer coated paper boxes bring far higher marine ecotoxicity than other materials. According to special research on pharmaceutical packaging, fresh food and medical products require completely different packaging standards. Thus, optimization strategies can be proposed in terms of waste classification, modification of materials and policy support, providing reliable theoretical guidance for green packaging application and development of circular systems in the food and medical industries.