Food is an integral part of everyone’s life. Disposable food serving utensils and tableware are a very convenient solution, especially when the possibility of the use of traditional dishes and cutlery is limited (e.g., takeaway meals). As a result, a whole range of products is available on the market: plates, trays, spoons, forks, knives, cups, straws, and more. Both the form of the product (adapted to the distribution and sales system) as well as its ecological aspect (biodegradability and life cycle) should be of interest to producers and consumers, especially considering the clearly growing trend of “eco-awareness”. This is particularly important in the case of single-use products. The aim of the study was to present the current trends regarding disposable utensils intended for contact with food in the context of their biodegradability. This paper has summarized not only conventional polymers but also their modern alternatives gaining the attention of manufacturers and consumers of single-use products (SUPs).

Selected Grass Plants as Biomass Fuels and Raw Materials for Papermaking, Part II. Pulp and Paper Properties

The different properties of hemp stalks, hemp woody-core, and Miscanthus × giganteus stalks cultivated in Poland and physical properties of unbleached kraft pulps from these materials were compared with the ones of pulps from pine, birch and wheat straw. Research performed showed that in terms of oven-dried material density, bulk density, yield, morphological, structural, and strength properties of pulps, hemp stalks and Miscanthus stalks are more similar to birch and pine than hemp woody-core and wheat straw. Thus, it can be stated that hemp and Miscanthus stalks should be better papermaking fibrous raw materials than hemp woody-core and wheat straw and could be used for the production of a broader range of papers and boards.

The absorption of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride and acetate taken from commercial packaging was studied by means of UV-VIS and infrared spectroscopy with some differences observed. Further research showed that heating both 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride and acetate alone, as well as in the presence of wood pulp, causes the darkening of these ionic liquids. Changes in the colour of ionic liquids associated with a variation in the absorption characteristics of pure ionic liquids and wood solutions in these liquids in UV and visible light are expressed primarily in the widening of the absorption bands. The presence of coloured products formed during their heating, as well as dissolution of the chemical components of wood in ionic liquids, had relatively little effect on the position of individual absorption bands in the spectrum obtained by the FT-IR method. The small differences in the absorption of spruce groundwood solutions in ionic liquids in IR as compared to pure ionic liquids suggest that strong chromophore groups in ionic liquids are created without serious reconstruction of their structure.