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Oil-based plastics, a popular material in the packaging industry with inexpensive and long-lasting durability, have become a significant threat to the ecosystem due to their single-use, recalcitrant nature. Therefore, finding biodegradable plastic to replace oil-based plastics has attracted more interest. Nanocellulose and chitosan, an abundant polymer in nature, have remarkable properties such as biodegradability, bioavailability, and biocompatibility. Both materials can be produced from low-cost sources such as lignocellulosic biomass and crustacean waste, respectively. Hence, in this study, nanocellulose from agro-waste and chitosan from shrimp waste were combined to create a biofilm food packaging. The biofilms were characterized using FTIR, TGA, SEM, while the physical properties of the biofilm demonstrated the role of nanocellulose in biofilm reinforcement. As a result, PVA/CS/CNC film exhibited tensile strength up to 18.25 MPa and water resistance up to 160 % compared to the control sample. This biodegradable film offers a potential alternative to synthetic materials like food packaging.

As an abundant biomass of surface water, water hyacinth was used as an input material to produce bioethanol in this study. Steam explosion and alkaline pre-treatment were applied on the material before simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) process was carried out. Experimental data suggested the optimal enzyme dosage be 1.0 wt% of the dry mass of the biomass, and the mass of the material be up to 8.0 wt% of the whole mixture in a one-step loading procedure to obtain the climax efficiency after 78 h. The process does not need additional nitrogen nutrition, such as corn steep liquor (CSL), as those in other common lignocellulosic bioethanol processes, because water hyacinth itself contains much protein in its chemical composition. Protein content analysis showed that it was 17.2 wt% (on dry basis), similar to what reported in some published studies. The SSF efficiency was positively 72.8 % at the optimal conditions resulted out from the experiments. Such a convenient conversion of water hyacinth to bioethanol is not only meaningful in term of biofuel production but also in term of environmental treatment.