and are also compostable. Other producers, such as Roquette, have developed other starch/polyolefin blends. These blends are not biodegradable, but have a lower carbon footprint than petroleum-based plastics used for the same applications. Starch is cheap, abundant, and renewable. Starch-based films (mostly used for packaging purposes) are made mainly from starch blended with thermoplastic polyesters to form biodegradable and compostable products. These films are seen specifically in consumer goods packaging of magazine wrappings and bubble films. In food packaging, these films are seen as bakery or fruit and vegetable bags. Composting bags with this films are used in selective collecting of organic waste. Further, starch-based films can be used as a paper. Starch-based nanocomposites have been widely studied, showing improved mechanical properties, thermal stability, moisture resistance, and gas barrier properties. Cellulose-based plastics Cellulose bioplastics are mainly the cellulose esters (including cellulose acetate and nitrocellulose) and their derivatives, including celluloid. Cellulose can become thermoplastic when extensively modified. An example of this is cellulose acetate, which is expensive and therefore rarely used for packaging. However, cellulosic fibers added to starches can improve mechanical properties, permeability to gas, and water resistance due to being less hydrophilic than starch. A group at Shanghai University was able to construct a novel green plastic based on cellulose through a method called hot pressing. Other polysaccharide-based plastics Other polysaccharides such as chitosan and alginate can also be processed into plastic forms. Chitosan is dissolvable in mild acidic conditions and thus can be easily processed into films by solution casting. Chitosan has an excellent film forming ability. Besides, chitosan, mixed with a limited amount of acid, can also be thermomechanically processed into a plasticised form using an internal batch mixer and compression molder. This high-viscosity condition during thermomechanical processing allows chitosan to be easily blended with plasticizers, nanoparticles, or other biopolymers. Under solution conditions, the production of blended materials based on chitosan, which is positively charged, with other negatively charged biopolymers such as carboxymethyl cellulose, alginate and proteins is challenging as the electrostatic interaction between the two biopolymers will usually lead to coacervates. However, bulk chitosan blends can be produced by high-viscosity thermomechanical processing, which may also display much better mechanical properties and hydrolytic stability. Alginate (usually sodium alginate or calcium alginate) is dissolvable in water so alginate solutions can be cast into films. Blended with limited amounts of water and plasticizers, alginate can also be thermomechanically processed