Techno-Economic Evaluation of Polybutylene Adipate Terephthalate (PBAT)–Starch–Nanoclay Biodegradable Films for Sustainable Packaging Applications

Abstract

Biodegradable packaging materials are increasingly popular as eco-friendly substitutes for petroleum-based plastics. This work assessed the techno-economic viability of PBAT–starch–nanoclay composite films made with different starch contents (5%, 10%, and 15%) and a constant 3% nanoclay and glycerol as a plasticizer. Component fractions were standardized in order to guarantee precise comparisons. The range of total production costs was ₹360.62/kg (T1) to ₹343.07/kg (T3). With increased starch substitution, variable costs dropped from ₹303.70/kg (T1) to ₹286.15/kg (T3), while fixed costs, as determined by the capital recovery factor (CRF), stayed the same at ₹56.92/kg. T3 provided the best economic viability, according to break-even analysis, needing the least amount of output (30,973 kg/year) and sales revenue (₹15,486,500/year) to cover yearly costs. These results demonstrate that using glycerol and nanoclay to partially replace PBAT with starch lowers material costs without sacrificing film performance. In this work, cost, processing, and formulation normalization are all optimized at the same time, which advances the development of sustainable PBAT-starch-nanoclay films for packaging applications.