Due to the versatility of its features and capabilities, chitosan generated from marine crustacean waste is gaining importance and appeal in a wide variety of applications. It was initially used in pharmaceutical and medical applications due to its antibacterial, biocompatible, and biodegradable properties. However, as the demand for innovative materials with environmentally benign properties has increased, the application range of chitosan has expanded, and it is now used in a variety of everyday applications. The most exciting aspect of the chitosan is its bactericidal properties against pathogens, which are prevalent in contaminated water and cause a variety of human ailments. Apart from antimicrobial and water filtration applications, chitosan is used in dentistry, in water filtration membranes to remove metal ions and some heavy metals from industrial effluents, in microbial fuel cell membranes, and in agriculture to maintain moisture in fruits and leaves. It is also used in skin care products and cosmetics as a moisturizer, in conjunction with fertilizer to boost plant immunity, and as a bi-adhesive for bonding woods and metals. As it has the capacity to increase the life span of food items and raw meat, it is an unavoidable component in food packing and preservation. The numerous applications of chitosan are reviewed in this brief study, as well as the approaches used to incorporate chitosan alongside traditional materials and its effect on the outputs.

Polymer composites with different reinforcements have many applications. By adjusting process settings and adding fibers and fillers, composite properties can be improved. Additive manufacturing is popular in the polymer industry because it can manufacture intricately designed parts with fewer defects and greater strength with less material consumption. Composites use thermoplastics and thermosetting polymers. Thermoset plastics cannot be reused or recycled; therefore, they are disposed in landfills, creating pollution and environmental harm. In this work, thermoplastic ASA (Acrylonitrile Styrene Acrylate) polymer filament is used for FDM 3D printing. The specimens are made by varying five process parameters that affected the materials’ mechanical properties. The tensile, flexural and impact specimens are made using MINITAB software and ASTM requirements. The L18 orthogonal array experimental design, specimens and results were optimized. Infill density and layer height were most influential. Maximum tensile strength of 51.86 MPa, flexural strength of 82.56 MPa and impact strength of 0.180 J/mm² were obtained by following the software-suggested input factors and compared with the predicted values. Final error percentage was obtained between the predicted and the experimental results and it was found to be under 3%, which is acceptable.

Increasing demand for simplification of frequently used products promotes innovation with simple mechanisms. In this study, an attempt is made by amalgamating FMEA, QFD, TRIZ, LCA, and fuzzy TOPSIS for the development of sustainable products. The methodology is executed to redesign a simple pressure relief valve (PRV) in an economic, sustainable, and innovative manner. The failure modes of PRV are considered in FMEA and ranked by their RPN. The environmental voice of the customer is imbibed in ECQFD to correlate with the engineering specifications and obtain the critical zones of improvement. Possible innovations of the existing design based on the design option selected from ECQFD are considered by analyzing the design feature contradictions, and solutions are addressed using the TRIZ matrix. Four CAD models of improved designs were created and subjected to sustainability analysis and fatigue life analysis. The redesigns were evaluated using fuzzy TOPSIS, an MCDM approach, to obtain an unbiased ranking based on multiple criteria supported by the result analysis and expert opinions. The final design was selected for prototyping. This approach provides a holistic approach for innovative product design and development and a simplified approach for an innovative redesign of an existing product.

Purpose: Hospital activities restore health and save lives; yet they produce infectious waste that might harm people and the environment if not handled carefully. The sudden increase in bio-medical waste (BMW) generation was caused due to the outbreak of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at the beginning of year 2020. There is a huge potential of businesses from BMW generated in the developing economies. The document destruction process would prove to be beneficial in determining the strategies and policies for the business from BMW. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify and evaluate the factors that influence the business prospects from BMW in developing economies. Design/methodology/approach: The study focuses on identifying 18 factors based on an extensive literature review, questionnaire, theoretical foundations and interviews with experts in the context of developing economies. These factors are categorized into four groups namely “Culture, education and microeconomics”, “Infrastructure, social provision, and technology”, “Policy and institution” and “Integrated waste management system”. Consequently, these factors are prioritized to assist the decision-maker in comprehending the most critical aspects of accomplishing the best business practices. A framework based on the Best–Worst Method (BWM) is applied to evaluate and determine the significance of each identified factor. Findings: The major contribution of this paper is to identify key factors that are responsible for successful implementation of the business practices from the generated BMW. The study also explains their nature, significance and inter-relationship among them using BWM. Current study applied a distinctive modeling approach to examine the contextual relationship among the key factors and to rank them as per their importance. The findings of the study suggest that “Setup for collection and segregation is the best alternative for business from BMW produced”. Originality/value: The paper also presents strategies, which can be adopted as a guiding step by the decision-makers to formulate policies for the effective business practice from BMW. This research is expected to stimulate future applications of the BWM to facilitate long-term decision-making.