Plastic pots used in horticultural nurseries generate substantial waste, causing environmental pollution. This study aimed to develop biodegradable composites from banana pseudo-stem reinforced with agricultural residues like pineapple leaves, taro and water hyacinth as eco-friendly substitutes. The aim of this study is to develop optimised banana biocomposite formulations with suitable reinforcements that balance mechanical durability, biodegradation, and seedling growth promotion properties to serve as viable eco-friendly alternatives to plastic seedling pots. This study was carried out by fabricating banana fibre mats through pulping, drying and hot pressing. Composite sheets were reinforced with 50 % pineapple, taro or water hyacinth fibres. The mechanical properties (tensile, yield strength, elongation, bursting strength), hydrophilicity (contact angle, water absorption), biodegradability (soil burial test), and seedling growth promotion were evaluated through appropriate testing methods. The results show that banana-taro composites exhibited suitable tensile strength (25 MPa), elongation (27 %), water uptake (41 %) and 82 % biodegradation in 60 days. It was observed that biodegradable seedling trays fabricated from banana-taro composite showed 95 % tomato seed germination and a 125 cm plant height increase in 30 days, superior to plastic trays. The finding shows that the study demonstrates the potential of banana-taro biocomposites as alternatives to plastic nursery pots, enabling healthy seedling growth while eliminating plastic waste pollution through biodegradation.

A green process was devised to effectively extract cellulose from recycled rice straw waste, subsequently ethylating and modifying it into ethyl cellulose (EC), and ultimately blending the EC with ethanol to obtain biodegradable films. The optimal process conditions at each stage were investigated. An assessment was conducted on the crystallinity and thermal stability of rice straw cellulose (RSC), the degree of substitution of EC, and the biodegradability and mechanical properties of EC-ethanol films. The results demonstrated the following: The optimal process conditions resulted in a 95.73 % yield of extracted RSC, a type I crystalline structure, a 31.20 % increase in relative crystallinity, and thermal stability with a main weight loss peak at 340 C-degrees. Under ideal ethylation conditions, the EC production reached 79.60 %, while the degree of substitution ranged from 2.0 to 2.5. After being landfilled in soil for 100 days, the EC-ethanol films degraded at rates of 6.77 %, 4.78 %, and 3.13 % (film concentrations were 0.02, 0.04, and 0.06 g/mL (w/v, EC/ethanol), respectively). Based on the analysis of the films' FT-IR and SEM images, it was concluded that the EC-ethanol films exhibit favorable biodegradability. Moreover, the tensile strength of 0.04 g/mL film reaches up to 44.60 MPa. Hence, the EC-ethanol films in this research could be an environmentally friendly and sustainable alternative to plastic films.