Petroleum-based plastic resistance to biodegradation contributes to environmental pollution, depletes natural resources, and affects humans, animals, and plants. Plastic fragmentation into microplastics and nanoplastics further poses adverse effects on human health. Thus, switching to eco-friendly packaging holds great potential to combat these predicaments. Herein, soyhull lignocellulosic residue (SLR) was extracted using 20% NaOH treatment, solubilized in ZnCl2 solution and crosslinked the chains with calcium ions (CaCl2) and glycerol. Box Behnken Design was used to optimize the SLR, CaCl2, and glycerol amounts against the responses water vapor permeability (WVP), tensile strength (TS), and elongation at break (EB). The optimized SLR film biodegrades within 33 days at 24% soil moisture content. It is semitransparent with UV-blocking properties and displays the tensile strength (TS), elongation at break (EB), water vapor permeability (WVP), and IC50 value of 16.8 (3) MPa, 14.7 (2)%, 0.22 (4) x 10-10 gm- 1s- 1Pa- 1, and 0.4 (1) g/mL, respectively. The residual lignin retained in the SLR significantly increased film's TS. The film extends strawberries' shelf-life by 3 more days than plastic film and retains the original color, total soluble solids, ascorbic acid, and total phenolic compounds. Overall, the valueadded soyhull lignocellulose-based packaging films are advantageous in addressing plastic-related issues, leading to sustainable waste management and preserving fruits for longer durations.