Biodegradable and flexible fiber‐reinforced composite sheet from tannery solid wastes: An approach of waste minimization

Abstract The rising concern towards environmental issues and non‐recyclable solid wastes preservation needs has led to the development of high‐performance biodegradable composite materials with new functionalities. In this regard, the current study focused on fabricating flexible and biodegradable composite sheets by utilizing waste buffing dust (BD) and sugarcane fiber (SF). Flexible composite sheets were fabricated using simple solution casting method with different mixing ratios of BD and SF. Wide range of characterizations like ultraviolet‐vis spectroscopy, Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, tensile tests, x‐ray diffractometry, scanning electron microscopy, oxygen gas transmittance rate, and soil burial tests were conducted to comprehensively evaluate their performance. The obtained results were highly promising which reveals strong bonding between BD and SF along with a uniform…