Upscaling bioplastics – modification strategies, upcycled agro-food side streams, and end-of-life aspects

The massive volume of waste generated by the agro-food industry presents both an environmental challenge and an untapped resource. These post-industrial side streams—rich in biopolymers—can be sustainably repurposed into packaging materials, thus diverting waste from landfills and reducing dependency on fossil-based plastics. As food packaging is a significant contributor to environmental pollution, integrating agro-waste valorization with eco-design principles addresses sustainability from a systems perspective. Rather than focusing on traditional plastic processing or high-tech manufacturing methods, this Topic highlights green strategies, functional applications, and systemic benefits relevant to agroecosystem health.
While bioplastics research has made significant strides, a notable gap persists in integrating agro-food waste management with environmental sustainability in food systems. Much of the existing literature emphasizes solvent-based film formation and thermal plastic manufacturing, which limits its relevance for environmental applications in agricultural systems. Moreover, life cycle considerations and agroecosystem implications are rarely explored in depth.

The primary objective of this Research Topic is to stimulate interdisciplinary research that repurposes agro-industrial by-products into packaging solutions through sustainable, scalable, and environmentally relevant pathways. It aims to promote research that supports circular economy models, investigates bioavailability, safety, environmental impact, and aligns with sustainability goals in agroecosystems. Studies on policy implications, life cycle assessment, and real-world application in food packaging contexts are especially welcome.

This collection seeks contributions that demonstrate the environmental and agroecological value of converting agro-food post-industrial by-products into sustainable packaging materials. The scope excludes studies solely focused on manufacturing techniques or thermal plastic processing and instead encourages systems-level approaches that elucidate how these waste-derived packaging materials, when composted or degraded in agricultural soils, contribute to soil fertility, microbiome health, pollutant sequestration, or overall agroecosystem resilience.

Subthemes include, but are not limited to:

• Green extraction and functionalization of biopolymers from food waste
• Sustainable packaging applications for agro-food waste streams
• Life cycle assessment and environmental footprint of packaging solutions
• Bioavailability and compostability of waste-derived materials
• Synergistic use of different agro-waste components in packaging
• Circular economy integration in agroecosystems
• Policy frameworks supporting sustainable packaging
• Environmental monitoring of biodegradable packaging in soil or aquatic systems
• Soil amendment and agroecosystem outcomes of composted or degraded packaging
• Impacts on soil health, plant productivity, and ecosystem services when agricultural soils receive packaging-derived organic matter

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Agro-industrial by-products, Biomaterials, Sustainable food packaging, Novel extraction techniques, AI/ML optimization

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.