Articles Archives - Love Nature

We are on Alibaba

biopac — Thu, 14 Aug 2025 02:21:07 +0000

With the support from our local government, Biopac is available on Alibaba. You can find our products at plastic packaging and Food and beverage categories at our store (https://id19065168624wexi.m.trustpass.alibaba.com/).

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Meet in person: USASCP host and awardees

biopac — Thu, 29 May 2025 02:59:26 +0000

With sponsorship from the US ASEAN Smart Cities Partnership (USASCP), we are pleased to attend the SelectUSA Investor Summit in Washington, D.C., from May 10-14, 2025. I bring ample new experience, insight, networks, and opportunities. As one of the awardees of the USASCP, we have a unique opportunity to meet our sponsor team members in person. We collect genuine feedback and support from them as global leaders during profound discussions, sightseeing, enjoying dinner, and on the boat. To express our gratitude, we commit to expanding our environmental and social impacts.

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Different colors, seasons, and seedlings may have different yields of carrageenan.

biopac — Tue, 08 Apr 2025 07:37:00 +0000

This article is a summary of Chapter 9, Cultivation and Domestication of Kappaphycus alvarezii Strains at Ubatuba Bay, Sao Paulo State, Southeastern Brazil, from an e-book entitled Tropical Phyconomy Coalition Development: Focus on Eucheumatoid Seaweeds, written by various authors.

The authors reported that different colors and strains of seaweed seedlings may produce different yields of carrageenan. Semi-refined carrageenan yields of EP gametophytes were higher than those of tetrasporophytic strains. All strains showed lower yields in May and higher from August to December. The same goes for refined carrageenan. We should conduct a similar study on the cultivation of Kappaphycus alvarezii in Indonesia.

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The livelihoods of Seaweed Farmers in South Sulawesi, Indonesia

biopac — Tue, 08 Apr 2025 07:22:19 +0000

This article summarizes Chapter 12, Diverse Seaweed Farming Livelihoods in Indonesian Villages, from an e-book entitled Tropical Phyconomy Coalition Development: Focus on Eucheumatoid Seaweeds. The authors collected primary data by surveying 273 seaweed farmers in South Sulawesi, the biggest seaweed-producing province in Indonesia which produces approximately 20% of the global supply of carrageenan seaweed, representing 32% and 74% of Laikang and Pitu Sunggu farmers, respectively. The most common species of seaweed grown were cottonii and sacol, farmed by longline method. This method involves tying seaweed seedlings on ropes, 25m and 40m in length in Pitu Sunggu and Laikang, respectively. The farmers need buoys to keep the rope and seaweed floating, so they usually use disposable plastic bottles and Styrofoam. But, these buoys release nanoplastic to the marine ecosystem and their after-use pollutes the seashore. Buoys, that are ecofriendly, light, low-cost, easily transportable, and adjustable buoyancy, are needed.
Both seaweed species, cottonii and sacol, produce kappa-carrageenan and have the same price, but cottonii prefers the wet season, while sacol prefers the dry season. The average annual seaweed production in Laikang and Pitu Sunggu was 1.63 and 1.66 tons per household, respectively, which is much less than its optimum. Some farmer groups also farm spinosum, with a shorter cycle (20 days).
Tying the seaweed seedlings is time-consuming and should be completed in a single day so the seaweed can be farmed in the sea on the same day. A group of five people working for 6 hours could therefore be expected to complete just 30 longlines. All people, including the elderly, disabled, pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and unskilled people can do this job.
Seaweed farmers are vulnerable to climate change. Bad weather causes not only a decrease in productivity but also losses for the farmers. Seaweed productivity varies due to the climate. Not only the productivity decline, but the farmers get lost. In Pitu Sunggu, after 3 days of rain, one farmer reported that he had deployed 300 long lines, but the seaweed rotted on half of those lines. The loss is estimated at IDR 10 million, excluding the wages for laborers who worked to tie the seedling. Another farmer who has planted 1200 longlines that were 1 month old reported losing IDR 50 million. Eighty percent of seaweed farmers require non-collateral credit from the traders, but the farmers have to sell the seaweed to that trader. Traders do not charge interest, but seaweed from farmers with debt is paid 3-9% lower than that from farmers without debt. This price reduction does not reduce the loan amount.

The post The livelihoods of Seaweed Farmers in South Sulawesi, Indonesia appeared first on Love Nature.

In this article, we will discuss the production process of semi-refined carrageenan (SRC). This article is written by a team of academics from the Chemical Engineering Department of Sepuluh November Institute of Technology in 2023.

biopac — Tue, 08 Apr 2025 06:39:25 +0000

In this article, we will discuss the production process of semi-refined carrageenan (SRC). This article is written by a team of academics from the Chemical Engineering Department of Sepuluh November Institute of Technology in 2023.

Carrageenan is a linear polysaccharide with galactose as its monomers, extracted from seaweed of the class Rhodophyceae. Carrageenan is available in semi-refined and refined grades, where the semi-refined grade still contains cellulose, while the refined grade does not contain cellulose.
The production process of semi-refined carrageenan consists of 3 stages, namely pre-treatment, extraction, and advanced processing unit. In the pre-treatment, a screw conveyor is used with a flow of clean water from top to bottom and a flow of seaweed from bottom to top, along with a crusher or rotary knife granulator to cut the clean seaweed. The next stage is extraction. In the extraction process, the seaweed is boiled in an alkaline solution, specifically 12% KOH with a KOH:seaweed ratio of 30:1, at a temperature of 90°C for 30 minutes. The further processing unit consists of a washing process. Washing is done twice with pressing using a water volume 30 times greater to lower the pH to 8-10. The pressing is done using a hydraulic press. Then, the wet carrageenan is dried using a tray dryer at a temperature of 87.5°C and a pressure of 1 atm. Next, the intermediate product is transferred to a ball mill to turn it into flour with an 80 mesh size. To inform about the safety of KOH, we attach its MSDS here.
According to this article, to produce 1500 tons of semi-refined carrageenan (SRC) per year, with 330 working days per year and 24 working hours per day, 10.3 tons of dried seaweed, 299 kg of KOH, 1.4 million liters of water, and 57.4 tons of steam per day are needed. The total investment required for the SRC plant is approximately USD 27 million, consisting of CAPEX of USD 19.5 million and OPEX of USD 7.5 million. The author recommends the establishment of the SRC factory in Takalar Regency, South Sulawesi. The economic parameters are an IRR of 18.31%, a payback time of 7.48 years, and a BEP of 38.2%.

The post In this article, we will discuss the production process of semi-refined carrageenan (SRC). This article is written by a team of academics from the Chemical Engineering Department of Sepuluh November Institute of Technology in 2023. appeared first on Love Nature.

Impact of Microplastics and Nanoplastics on Human Health

biopac — Tue, 08 Apr 2025 06:27:35 +0000

Impact of Microplastics and Nanoplastics on Human Health

Do you want to know the impact of microplastics and nanoplastics on human health? This article may answer your curiosity. To date, micro- and nanoplastic fragments have been detected in honey, beer, salt, sugar, fish, shrimp, bivalves, and water (tap, bottled, and spring waters). People get plastic particles in their bodies by eating or drinking contaminated food and water or by breathing in plastic particles in the air that come from synthetic textiles and dirty outdoor air. Nanoplastics can get into the body through wounds and skin that isn’t adequately protected. The authors of this review are academics from several research centers and universities:

Centre of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials, Faculty of Engineering, University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus
Center for Cancer and Stem Cell Research, International Medical University
Center for Environmental and Population Health, International Medical University
School of Postgraduate Studies, International Medical University
School of Pharmacy, International Medical University
School of Medicine, International Medical University
School of Health Sciences, International Medical University

The post Impact of Microplastics and Nanoplastics on Human Health appeared first on Love Nature.

Human Trafficking In East Nusa Tenggara

biopac — Tue, 08 Apr 2025 04:16:50 +0000

This article was written by three academics from the Master’s Program in Development Studies, except for the section updating the number of human trafficking victims in 2022, which was taken from Narasi TV.

The issue of human trafficking in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) is not yet resolved. Every year, NTT faces this humanitarian issue, and in fact, NTT is the region with the highest number of human trafficking cases in Indonesia. The numerous cases of human trafficking disguised as the sending of Indonesian migrant workers indicate the presence of human trafficking crimes by organized crime syndicates.
According to this article published in 2018, there are 1.3 million Indonesian migrant workers abroad. Every year, authorities deport 19,000 migrant workers to their home regions due to their lack of official documents. In 2014, out of 1,021 people handled by authorities, 605 were suspected of being victims of human trafficking. In 2015, authorities identified 468 out of 1004 handled individuals as victims of human trafficking. And in 2016, there were 54 corpses of Indonesian migrant workers received with false addressesat the El Tari cargo terminal in Kupang, one of the districts in NTT. According to the latest data from Narasi TV, that, on average, there are two corpses arriving in NTT every day who are victims of human trafficking.
Human trafficking is a form of modern slavery that arises from the degradation of human moral, spiritual, mental, and character values. Generally, victims are promised attractive jobs as storekeepers or household assistants, but then they are forced into torturous work, child labor, dancers, or even prostitution. There have even been selling babies or killing victims for their organs.
There are two categories of crimes for Indonesian migrant workers cases, namely human trafficking (TPPO) and people smuggling (TPPM). The difference between TPPO and TPPM lies in the methods and objectives, as well as the consequences of the penalties received. TPPO perpetrators use methods of violence, coercion, kidnapping, confinement, and so on, whereas TPPM perpetrators do not use violence or coercion. The profit of TPPO is obtained from exploiting victims, whereas the profit of TPPM comes from an agreement between the perpetrators and the smuggling victims. The legal consequences for perpetrators of TPPO are in accordance with Article 2 of Law No. 21 of 2007, which imprisoned 3-15 years and fine IDR 120-600 million. The legal consequences for TPPM perpetrators according to Article 120, paragraph 1 of Law Number 6 of 2011 are imprisonment for a maximum of 2 years and/or a fine of up to IDR 200 million.

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Best Practice for Kappaphycus alvarezii According to the Bio Economic Seaweed Model (BESeM)

biopac — Tue, 08 Apr 2025 02:34:17 +0000

This article is the summary of Chapter 8, The Bio Economic Seaweed Model (BESeM) for Modeling Kappaphycus Cultivation in Indonesia, from an e-book entitled Tropical Phyconomy Coalition Development: Focus on Eucheumatoid Seaweeds, written by various authors. While the discussion centers on Kappaphycus alvarezii, a similar study could also apply to Eucheuma spinosum and Gracilaria.

Using the Bioeconomic Seaweed Model (BESeM), which consists of a biological module and an economic module, this article answers two questions. First, is a farmer better off with 12 cycles of 30 days, 8 cycles of 45 days, or 6 cycles of 60 days? While yield per harvest will normally be higher with a longer cycle, aggregate yield (over a year) might be higher with more, yet shorter cycles. Second, how should we allocate the harvests between those for sale and those for replanting? Is selling 90% and replanting 10% of the harvest the right management decision?

We estimate the gross farmer income to be IDR 5.8 million per head per month. This is about 2x the minimum wage in South West Sulawesi (IDR 3.2 million). Based on the study the authors have done, 45 days is the right harvest cycle length; one farmer should have 300 lines @ 25 m length. Assuming the market can absorb all supply, increase the fraction replanted to 25% to increase income 2.5x.

The post Best Practice for Kappaphycus alvarezii According to the Bio Economic Seaweed Model (BESeM) appeared first on Love Nature.

Let’s understand biodegradable packaging deeper

biopac — Mon, 02 Dec 2024 08:52:58 +0000

Currently, biodegradable packaging or packaging that naturally decomposes through organisms is widely used by various businesses and households. This situation has contributed to retard the earth destruction due to plastic waste pollution. Concerns about the condition of the Earth due to increasing plastic waste are in line with the theme of Earth Day this year, namely Planet vs Plastics.

According to Voices of Youth, as much as 350 million tons of plastic are produced every year, most of which are not eco-friendly and cannot be recycled. Realizing this alarming fact, BIOPAC is committed to caring for the Earth through various biodegradable packaging that can be used for various industrial, home and office needs.

In this article, we will understand more about biodegradable packaging, the materials that can be used in its manufacture, and the environmentally friendly products provided by BIOPAC as its commitment to protecting the Earth.

Understanding Biodegradable Packaging

Eco-friendly packaging is packaging made from natural materials that easily decompose through organisms in environment. The process does not take hundreds of years like plastic in general. BIOPAC is an eco-friendly packaging, or more specifically compostable, that is, it can break down naturally into compost, so it is safe to throw directly into the soil, mix organic waste from food waste in the form of vegetables or fruit from home consumption, or throw it into plant pots. During the compostability certification process, BIOPAC has gone through the thorough assessment evaluation of heavy metals, toxic compounds, and the influence of the BIOPAC presence on the germination and survival of plants.

More than that, the use of BIOPAC as a substitute for conventional plastic plays a role in reducing carbon gas emissions which pose a threat to the sustainability of the Earth’s atmosphere because the process of making and handling conventional plastic waste causes carbon gas emissions. Deforestation or land conversion for monoculture plantation is not needed, so we can maintain forest biodiversity. This is the advantage that BIOPAC can provide compared to other bioplastics made from terrestrial plants.

Biodegradable Packaging from BIOPAC

Nowadays, bioplastics are made from a wide variety of materials that can be found in nature, but we chose seaweed for these considerations, especially at its commercialization stage.

First, seaweed is widely known as a safe and nutritious food, does not cause allergies, so using seaweed as a raw material for packaging food products will not pose a food safety risk, including migration of toxic ingredients from packaging to food products, allergies, or other adverse effects. Second, seaweed cultivation does not require land, so it does not compete with the housing, agriculture, food and livestock industries. Seaweed cultivation also does not require fertilizer, pesticides and irrigation. Third, the seaweed cultivation period is short, only 45 days, so it is strategic to improve the economy of coastal communities with a liquid cashflow.

BIOPAC packaging is available in various forms, including sheets, sachets, gussets, pouches, shopping bags, and even trash bags for pet waste. Apart from that, BIOPAC has also succeeded in producing environmentally friendly inks that do not use alcohol as an ink solvent, like conventional printing inks. BIOPAC ink can be used to print logos and information products on BIOPAC packaging without requiring stickers.

The post Let’s understand biodegradable packaging deeper appeared first on Love Nature.

Is it true that environmentally friendly plastic doesn’t solve the plastic problem?

biopac — Mon, 02 Dec 2024 07:57:47 +0000

More than 350 million tons of plastic waste pollutes the land, rivers and oceans every year. Pollution gets worse with some solutions that don’t actually solve the problem, including the following:

Biobased Plastic: This plastic is made from biomass (corn, potato flour, wood pulp, or sugar cane). However, this plastic is not environmentally friendly because the processing system makes the biomass structure no longer natural. In fact, with a biomass content of at least 20%, a plastic can be said to be biobased.
Biodegradable Plastics: Some brands of these plastics are designed to decompose into CO2, water, and biomass by microorganisms. However, this plastic can only decompose under certain environmental conditions, including the temperature must be >50°C. This plastic also takes more than three years to decompose, thereby still causing waste accumulation.
Oxo(bio)degradable Plastics: These plastics contain conventional petroleum derivatives that contain additives (pro-oxidants), so they are disintegrated, previously misinterpreted as biodegradable, into microplastics and nanoplastics. This type of plastic is very dangerous, because the resulting microplastics and nanoplastics can enter the food chain or be inhaled, causing serious health problems. Autism, diabetes, pregnancy disorders, and cancer are some of the diseases associated with the presence of microplastics and nanoplastics in the human body. Therefore, we must start a sustainable lifestyle by intelligently choosing the right solution. Biopac is a solution for single-use packaging because it is completely compostable.

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