PLASTICS ARE DURABLE, INEXPENSIVE, LIGHTWEIGHT, AND EASY TO PREPARE, AND CONSEQUENTLY BENEFITS ARE UNDENIABLE. THESE INTRINSIC TRAITS, INDEED, HAVE CATALYZED SIGNIFICANT COMMERCIAL APPLICATION OF PLASTIC PRODUCTS COMPARED TO OTHER MATERIALS. THEIR APPLICATIONS HAVE GROWN SUBSTANTIALLY IN CONSTRUCTION, FOOD, CLOTHING, MEDICINE, TRANSPORTATION, ELECTRONICS, AND HOUSEHOLD GOODS. PLASTIC PRODUCTION CONTINUES TO GROW AT A RAPID RATE AND COULD DOUBLE BY 2025 AND EVEN TRIPLE BY 2050. SUCH AN INCREASE COULD MEAN THAT PLASTICS WOULD ACCOUNT FOR UP TO 20% OF THE WORLD'S TOTAL OIL UTILIZATION BY 2050.DISPOSABLE PLASTICS, ALSO KNOWN AS SINGLE-USE PLASTICS, ARE WIDELY USED IN THE PACKAGING SECTOR. THE IDEA WAS TO USE THUS PREPARED PRODUCTS ONCE AND THROW THEM AWAY OR RECYCLE. GROCERY BAGS, FOOD PACKAGING, BOTTLES, STRAWS, CONTAINERS AND CUPS, TO NAME A FEW, FALL IN THIS CATEGORY. UNFORTUNATELY, ONLY 9% OF PLASTIC WASTES ARE BEING RECYCLED AND 12% IS INCINERATED, LEAVING 79% TO FILL LANDFILLS, DUMPS, OR SCATTER IN THE ENVIRONMENT. INAPPROPRIATE DISPOSAL OF PLASTICS, COUPLED WITH UNWANTED AND END-OF LIFE PLASTICS, ARE LITTERING OUR COMMUNITIES, OCEANS, AND WATERWAYS, AND CONTRIBUTE TO ADVERSE HEALTH ISSUES FOR HUMANS AND ANIMALS. IN 2015, 300 MILLION TONS OF PLASTIC WASTE WERE GENERATED GLOBALLY, AND PLASTIC PACKAGING WASTE ACCOUNTS FOR 47%. AMONG ALL THE NATIONS, CHINA IS CURRENTLY THE WORLD'S TOP GENERATOR OF PLASTIC PACKAGING WASTE, WHEREAS THE USA IS THE LARGEST PRODUCER OF PLASTIC PACKAGING WASTE ON A PER-CAPITA BASIS. IF CURRENT PLASTIC CONSUMPTION PATTERNS AND WASTE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ARE NOT BEEN REVISED, IMPROVED AND STRICTLY EXERCISED, BY 2050 OUR LANDFILLS AND THE ENVIRONMENT WILL BE SWAMPED WITH ABOUT 12 BILLION TONS OF PLASTIC LITTER: A PAINFUL REPERCUSSION OF PLASTIC PACKAGING AND PRODUCTION.PLASTICS DO NOT CORRODE OR BIODEGRADE, AND ON AVERAGE 700 YEARS ARE NEEDED FOR A SINGLE BOTTLE TO START TO DECOMPOSE. PLASTICS ALSO PHOTODEGRADE AND RESULT IN SMALL FRAGMENTS KNOWN AS MICROPLASTICS. THESE HAVE BEEN FOUND IN AQUATIC HABITATS OF INLAND WATER, OPEN-OCEAN AND ENCLOSED SEAS, BEACHES, AND SURFACE WATERS ACROSS THE GLOBE. DUE TO THEIR SMALL SIZE THESE PARTICLES TRANSPORT ACROSS LARGE DISTANCES AND ACCUMULATE IN NATURAL HABITATS WITH ADVERSE IMPACTS ON BIOTA AND THE ECONOMY. FURTHERMORE, MICROPARTICLES INGESTED BY MARINE SPECIES SUCH AS FISH COULD EVENTUALLY REACH HUMANS UPON CONSUMPTION. THE TOXIC MONOMERS AND OLIGOMERS IN PLASTIC BAGS CONTAIN GET DELIVERED TO FOOD AND IN-TURN POISON THE FOOD, LEADING TO HEALTH COMPLICATION SUCH AS ADVERSE EFFECTS ON THE NERVOUS, RESPIRATORY, AND REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEMS AS WELL AS KIDNEYS AND LIVER. STYRENE FROM FOOD CONTAINERS CAUSES THE PROLIFERATION OF HUMAN BREAST TUMOR CELLS. SIMILARLY, STYRENE MIGRATION FROM THE POLYSTYRENE CONTAINING PACKAGING FOODS HAS BEEN NOTICED IN INSTANT FOODS, YOGURT, AND MILK. FLUORINATED COMPOUNDS ARE FOUND IN ONE-THIRD OF THE U.S. FAST FOOD PACKAGING. FLUORINATED COMPOUNDS ARE BEING USED AS DESSERT, BREAD, SANDWICH, AND BURGER WRAPPERS AND IN PAPERBOARD DUE TO THEIR WATER-REPELLANT, STRAIN-RESISTANT, AND NON-STICK PROPERTIES. THESE COMPOUNDS, HOWEVER, ARE LINKED TO KIDNEY AND TESTICULAR CANCER, ELEVATED CHOLESTEROL, DECREASED FERTILITY, AND THYROID PROBLEMS AS WELL AS ADVERSE DEVELOPMENTAL EFFECTS AND DECREASED IMMUNE RESPONSE IN CHILDREN. THEIR PREVALENCE IN FOOD PACKAGING WOULD CERTAINLY LEAD TO DIETARY EXPOSURE AS WELL AS ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINATION DURING PRODUCTION AND DISPOSAL.PLASTICS ARE VERSATILE AND COST-EFFECTIVE WITH A WIDE VARIETY OF FUNCTIONALITIES BUT ARE PROBLEMATIC. TOWARDS THIS END, CELLULOSE FROM RENEWABLE AGRICULTURAL RESIDUES AND AGRICULTURE PROCESSING BY-PRODUCTS STANDS OUT AS A VIABLE OPTION. AGRICULTURAL BIOMASS IS ABUNDANT AND RECYCLABLE, PREDOMINANTLY GENERATED FROM PLANTS (AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY, MANUFACTURING PROCESS, ETC.), ANIMALS (ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND FISHERY PRODUCTION, FOOD PROCESSING, RURAL LIVING GARBAGE, ETC.) AND MICROBIAL WASTES (PLANT AND ANIMAL WASTES). ON A GLOBAL SCALE, 140 BILLION TONS OF BIOMASS ARE GENERATED ANNUALLY FROM AGRICULTURE ALONE. THE 2011 BILLION-TON UPDATE (U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY, 2011) ESTIMATED THAT IN THE U.S. AROUND 205 MILLION DRY TONS OF PRIMARY CROP RESIDUES ARE PRODUCED ANNUALLY, WITH THREE-FOURTHS BEING CORN STOVER, FOLLOWED BY WHEAT STRAW, SORGHUM STRAW, BARLEY STRAW, AND OAT STRAW. BY THE YEAR 2030, THESE BIOMASS RESIDUES ARE PROJECTED TO REACH 320 MILLION DRY TONS, DUE TO CONTINUED GROWTH IN CROP YIELDS AND HIGHER AMOUNTS OF LAND IN REDUCED-TILLAGE AND NO-TILL CULTIVATION. THEY CONSTITUTE A VALUABLE RESOURCE OF CELLULOSE. FOR EXAMPLE, CORN STOVER IS PREDOMINANTLY COMPOSED OF 45% CELLULOSE, 30% HEMICELLULOSE AND 25% LIGNIN. THE ISOLATION AND MARKETING OF CELLULOSE WOULD BE USEFUL TO ADDRESS THE PLASTIC CONCERNS, AND IS PRACTICAL TO DESIGN AND DEVELOP FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS ACROSS A WIDE RANGE OF INDUSTRIES INCLUDING PACKAGING, FOOD, BIOFUELS, COSMETIC, MEDICINE, CONSTRUCTION, AND ANIMAL FEED SECTORS.THE LONG-TERM GOAL OF THIS RESEARCH PROGRAM IS TO DEVELOP AN ECONOMICAL AND SUSTAINABLE SOLUTION TO REPLACE PLASTICS, AND THEREBY IMPROVE HUMAN HEALTH. TOWARDS THIS END, CELLULOSE EXTRACT FROM LIGNOCELLULOSIC BIOMASS IS SOUGHT AS A POTENTIAL SOLUTION. LIGNOCELLULOSE BIOMASS IS AN INEXPENSIVE, ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY, AND ECONOMICALLY SUSTAINABLE BIOMATERIAL THAT CAN BE OBTAINED FROM A RANGE OF AGRICULTURAL RESIDUES AND AGRICULTURAL PROCESSING BY-PRODUCTS.THE OVERALL GOAL OF THE PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP AND ESTABLISH THE PROTOCOLS TO EXTRACT CELLULOSE FRACTION FROM RENEWABLE AGRICULTURAL RESIDUES AND AGRICULTURAL PROCESSING BY-PRODUCTS TO MAKE STRONG AND BIODEGRADABLE FILMS. THE RESEARCH OBJECTIVES THAT WILL ACCOMPLISH THE PROJECT GOAL ARE:TO ISOLATE AND CHARACTERIZE CELLULOSE FRACTION FROM CORN STOVER, WHEAT STRAW, SOYBEAN BIOMASS, OAT STRAW, SWITCHGRASS AND PRAIRIE CORDGRASS. THE AMOUNT OF CELLULOSE FRACTION ALONG WITH THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND MOLECULAR WEIGHT VARIATIONS WILL BE ESTABLISHED.TO SOLUBILIZE CELLULOSE FRACTION, AND TO UNDERSTAND ITS INTERACTIONS WITH SALTS, BIODEGRADABLE POLYMERS AND BIOPOLYMERS. THE ROLES OF INORGANIC SALTS IN SOLUBILIZING THE CELLULOSE EXTRACT AND INFLUENCING CELLULOSE INTERACTIONS AND PHYSICOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES WITH OTHER BIOPOLYMERS AND BIODEGRADABLE POLYMERS WILL BE ESTABLISHED.TO PREPARE CELLULOSE FRACTION FILMS AND TO DETERMINE TENSILE STRENGTH AND BIODEGRADABILITY. THESE WILL BE THE STARTING MATERIALS INTENDED FOR NON-PLASTIC PACKAGING ALTERNATIVES THAT COULD ALSO SERVE AS A BASIS TO FORTIFY BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS LEADING TO EDIBLE FILMS.TO DETERMINE THE ECONOMIC AND TECHNICAL FEASIBILITY OF THE ESTABLISHED PROTOCOLS/PROCESSES AT A COMMERCIAL SCALE. THE TECHNOECONOMIC ANALYSIS WILL BE CARRIED OUT TO ESTIMATE THE COMMERCIAL-SCALE PRODUCTION COSTS AND A LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT (LCA) MODEL FOR THE DEVELOPED PROTOCOLS/PROCESSES. THESE RESULTS WILL BE COMPARED TO TRADITIONAL PETROLEUM-BASED FILMS TO ASCERTAIN AND QUANTIFY THE BENEFITS.THE OUTCOME OF THIS PROJECT OFFERS A UNIQUE VALUE-ADDED PROPOSITION FOR THE AGRICULTURE INDUSTRY AND FARMERS TO USE AGRICULTURE BYPRODUCTS TO INCREASE THE PROFITABILITY OF THEIR OPERATIONS. THE EARTH ALONG WITH ITS CURRENT AND FUTURE GENERATIONS WILL BENEFIT IMMENSELY WITH THIS COST-EFFECTIVE AND ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE SOLUTION TO CURB THE ILLS ASSOCIATED WITH THE USE OF PLASTICS.