Screw-pine leaves were dried, ground and sieved to obtain particle sizes less than 180 µm. Natural rubber latex solution was then
prepared by adding all the compounding ingredients such as, zinc oxide, zinc
diethyldithiocarbamate, zinc mercaptobenzothiozole, diphenylguanidien, sulphur, rolax and a
dispersing agent. Screw-pine particles were added to the final dispersion to obtain 0.5%, 1.0%,
1.5% w/w of filled polymer composites. Then, the latex films were cured at 120 °C for 3 min
and 50 s. The biodegradability of both filled and unfilled samples were checked by the soil
burial method. Weight-loss was used as the parameter to check the biodegradability. The water
absorption capacity was measured by soaking above mentioned samples in water. Tensile and
tear strengths were measured for both filled and unfilled samples. The fourier transform
infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) were done for samples
with the maximum mechanical properties, screw-pine filled sample (0.5% w/w) and for
unfilled sample.