Environmentally-Safe Gluten Polymer Based Degradable Food Service Utensils

The proposed research addresses a very pragmatic issue faced by the U.S. Navy--development of environmentally-friendly, safe, disposable food service utensils to meet terms of the MARPOL Treaty and to support efforts to automate galleys aboard ships. Competitive cost has been a major hurdle for all biodegradable food service utensils publicized to date; in addition, the slow rate of degradation has been an issue with many such products. The wheat gluten based resin and processing technology proposed herein holds promising potential to overcome these hurdles. For the past year, Key Consulting Associates has been developing and now is in the process of commercially launching an injection molded product using Midwest Grain Products' wheat gluten resin and its processing technology. Injection molding of product for the pet industry with current formulations demonstrates the desirable mechanical properties of the gluten resin--somewhere between polypropylene and polystyrene but degradable. The finished products proposed herein are projected to be very cost competitive with strong commercial viability. Food service items manufactured using the wheat gluten resin are expected to be not only biodegradable and environmentally safe, in fact they can also be edible. When the utensils degrade, they produce carbon dioxide and water. Objectives for Phase I; 1. Formulate resins and mold prototype products, 2. Build improved mold and refine molding proceudres to improve product performance, and 3. Evaluate mechanical properties and degradability.