Waste conversion with the use of fruit peels has been going on for many years to lessen fruit waste and to find ways to improve the properties of everyday materials. Resin is a type of material that is a solid or is a highly viscous substance of plant that is typically convertible into polymers. Vinyl ester resin or VER, specifically, is a material that is commonly used in industrial applications, and some fruit wastes have been proven to improve many mechanical properties of resin. Cavendish banana (Musa acuminata) is a plant native to the Philippines, and is proven to be able to reinforce other types of resin by improving their properties. Its rind is most commonly thrown away, making it a great contributor to fruit wastes. Using the concept of bio-composite, the researchers aim to find if there are significant differences in terms of tensile strength, shrinkage rate, and compressive strength between a pure mixture composed of hardener with VER to powdered cavendish banana of a 30% mixture by weight. All three tests resulted to the commercially available product exhibiting better mechanical properties than the other. It is recommended to increase the amount of the vinyl ester resin, carbonize and pulverize the rind into a fine powder or just soak the rind and filter within time intervals, and to explore other mechanical properties of the resin and other parts of the plant with high fiber content.
Keywords: Waste Conversion, Bio-composite, Cavendish banana rind, Vinyl ester resin