Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - BioBarr (New bio-based food packaging materials with enhanced barrier properties – BioBarrier)

Teaser

Food is the only product class typically consumed 3 times per day by every person. Consequently, in terms of volume, food packaging accounts for almost 50% of total packaging waste, which is a large quantity (Vimal Katizar, 2017). Moreover, food packaging is approximately 50%...

Summary

Food is the only product class typically consumed 3 times per day by every person. Consequently, in terms of volume, food packaging accounts for almost 50% of total packaging waste, which is a large quantity (Vimal Katizar, 2017). Moreover, food packaging is approximately 50% (by weight) of total packaging sales. Such numbers give the perception of the value of the food sector in the packaging context.

Traditional packaging products used on the FOOD market are represented by 99% plastic of fossil origin with only 1% represented by bioplastics. Conventional polymers are the most of common packaging materials used because they present several desired features like softness, lightness and transparency. However, increased use of synthetic packaging films has led to a serious ecological problem.

In order to implement the agreement on global warming reached at the UN climate change conference in Paris in December 2015, fossil fuels and biomass should be almost entirely phased out by 2050. This presents enormous challenges for the society, but also offers a lot of opportunities for research and industry to make a global contribution to this change.

As active drivers for sustainable development, 3 SMEs, 1 large enterprise, 2 Universities and 1 Research Organization have teamed up along the first 18 months of BioBarr project to proactively searching for alternatives to fossil based raw materials to be applied in the packaging sector. The biopolymer PHA, produced by the Bio-on Company through an innovative biotechnology completely based on natural bacterial fermentation of agricultural by-products, will represent the support on which further functionalization, based on coating treatments, will be developed for obtaining an eco-sustainable packaging, able to guarantee the optimal preservation of foods. This solution will be able to gradually substitute current fossil-based packaging solutions.

The new functionalized films for food packaging applications will have to demonstrate the following properties in industrial conditions:
- processability, resistance and reliability of the new biomaterials along producing cycle and during storage
- safety for the consumer
- total biodegradability and compostability according to the EN13432 normative of the packaging after its use
- compatibility with industrial production plants already existing
- capability to retard the decay of food products during storage and distribution time, preserving organoleptic quality, taste, convenience and safety of food products

The project involves seven partners from four countries from Europe. The Project Coordinator is Dr Raffaello Prugger, General Manager of Tecnoalimenti, a research management organisation for the food sector with over 38 years experience in food industry research and particularly in multidisciplinary projects. Deputy is Dr Marianna Faraldi, senior project manager of Tecnoalimenti.

Work performed

The project activities are organised in eight Work Packages (WP).

All the work-packages were active in the first 18 months of the project.

More specifically, in the first 18 months of the project, WP1 coordinated the project activities in particular ensuring effective communication, problem solving and performing administrative and reporting tasks. The main challenge was monitoring and focusing the activities of the Consortium towards the main project targets. WP2 has played the main role in these months, producing the material on which all the other WPs have been able to work. WP2 produced 140 kg of PHA powder, compounded in 186 Kg of plastic pellets (polymeric granules with specific shape and dimension: diameter 1-2 mm, length 3-5 mm) and extruded in about 200 sheets of films. WP3 worked for setting up methodologies for functionalizing the films produced and tested preliminarily the feasibility of functionalization of the films at lab level. WP4 has been working on the optimization of existing water-based ink with substitution of some current formulation components and replacement of the standard organic pigments with others more biodegradable and on the setting up of a completely new bio-based and compostable ink, able to be printed on PHA materials. WP5 has worked on testing the films obtained under the analytical point of view: functional and mechanical properties, migration and biodegradation properties. WP6 monitored the normative evolution at national, European and International level, for eventual changes or legislative decisions which could affect the solutions here provided and set up a method for benchmarking analysis. WP7 started the overall environmental sustainability evaluation of the new solutions at the study, collecting data for LCA. WP8 has produced communication material (leaflet, posters and website) and started dissemination activities.

Work has been developed in strict collaboration with the food industry from the very beginning of the project, taking technical decisions having in mind the industrial needs and requirements.

During these 18 months of the project activities most of the results achieved until now will be used for subsequent activities within the BioBarr. Main achievements:

- Reduction of chemical and energy consumption in the PHA production phase; this success will impact on the cost of production and on the related Life Cycle Assessment.
- Confirmation of PHA material processability and about 200 PHA film samples (A3 size) realised
- Very first prototypes of functionalized films ready
- First samples of new ink, obtained through the replacement of some ink components with new bio-based materials for optimization of existing formulations; Replacement of the standard organic pigments with other more biodegradable, for enhancing the existing ink biodegradability
- Overall migration and specific migration of substances from the food contact material to the foodstuff tested on all the produced batches, with acceptable results in terms of compliance to the limits
- Biodegradability tests on the new material done on all the produced batches, verifying that the samples met all the standards requirements
- Start of Life Cycle Assessment
- Logo, leaflet, website, posters realised and dissemination actions started

In general terms, all the activities are in line with expectations. It is reconfirmed the project main goal reachability in the ways and times as planned. The impact remains valid in all respects.

Final results

What will remain after the project ends?
The end result expected from BioBarr is a new fully biodegradable food packaging with barrier performances that allow to retard the kinetic decay of food products during the shelf-life, overcoming so the obstacles in performance that have up to date limited the food applications of totally biodegradable biopolymers.
The novel solutions applied in this project concern the intelligent combination of advanced technological elements: i) a bacteria-borne biodegradable material, ii) new coating treatment technologies, iii) completely biodegradable bio-ink for food packaging.

A debate over the possible scenarios facing BioBarr after the end of the project has not been started yet. At this stage the project is still in a phase of brainstorming but we feel it is important to start this process of planning the project results into the future in order to enhance the significance of each activity, stimulate creativity and give participants a common vision.

Website & more info

More info: http://www.biobarr.eu/.