KUALA LUMPUR: At first glance, no one would have thought that the material used to produce an award-winning pouch to store skincare products created by a university student was made from discarded fruit peels.

The bio-leather material is made from Calamansi lime skins as the main ingredient. It is eco-friendly and could be used as a packaging material for various products. Better still, it is an alternative to plastics.

The product is the brainchild of Menlin Ng Aniathul Fitria Ismail Ng Abdullah, 24, a Universiti Sains Malaysia undergraduate.

Despite being still in the early stage of research, she said her creation recently was the national runner-up in the James Dyson Awards 2021 international design competition.

Speaking to Bernama, Menlin Ng said the idea to use sustainable materials for her product came last year while she was in the midst of completing her semester project after she saw a large quantity of Calamansi lime rinds being thrown away by cafes and restaurants.

"I believe all food waste can be processed into materials or made into useful products that would help the environment. I wanted to convert these 'valueless' materials into useful and valuable items.

"Apart from playing my role in recycling, the bio-leather material made from totally natural products is not costly to produce," said the undergraduate who claimed to have completed her project in just 10 months.

Through experiments, Menlin Ng said she finally decided to use about 30 calamansi skins to make two pieces of material measuring 20 cm in width and height.

"I get my stock of Calamansi lime peels from several restaurants. The process involved in making the material is extraction, peeling, boiling to prevent fungi infection, mixing the material with natural polymer binder and finally dehydration," she said.

She said the challenge is finding natural binders and natural adhesives, adding that tapioca flour makes the best natural adhesives.

She said materials like bee wax could also be used for preservation purposes and to prevent fungi infection.

Menlin Ng also created the package design for the pouch which she named 'Citra'.

When asked about the challenges she faced while working on the product, Menlin Ng said she was unable to carry out laboratory tests due to the enforcement of the Movement Control Order.

"During the period, face-to-face meeting with my supervisor was impossible. I was stuck in my dorm and that demotivated me," she said.

The product design student said that she hoped her innovation could be further developed and utilised as well as paves the way for the production of environmental-friendly vegan material.

"I need to do more research and experiments to improve the quality of this material in the future," she added.

-- BERNAMA