• Agro-Food Waste
• Biodegradable
• Cutin
• Melt Blending
• PLA

The main purpose of the thesis is to investigate the possibilities of using cutin extracted from an industrial plant as part of the BBI-AGRIMAX project, from waste from the tomato food industry, in order to realize processable pellets by thermoforming. In this regard, the behavior of PLA-cutin mixtures from casting will be evaluated, comparing it with that of PLA-Cutin mixtures obtained for solution casting during a previous study always within the project BBI_AGRIMAX, with its advantages and disadvantages. Alternative mixing strategies such as cutin pre-grinding, the increase of the processing time and the addition of a catalyst will be evaluated in order to improve the interaction between the phases and in particular the dispersion of the natural polymer in the commercial matrix. The driving force of this type of study is to find more and more uses for those that are basically scraps of industry, the disposal of which would be a considerable expense that would burden production processes. The trend of recent years is, rather than disposal, seeking the waste-valorisation with the consequent advantages of the case, both at the level of innovative products than at the level of waste treatment that at this point are no longer seen as an expense, as waste, but as an investment as a potential secondary resource.