Plasma technology as enabler for sustainable plastic packaging

Project Information

IonKraftCoating

Grant agreement ID: 190157248

DOI

10.3030/190157248

Project closed

EC signature date 6 March 2023

Start date 1 April 2023

End date 30 June 2025

Funded under

• The European Innovation Council (EIC)

Total cost

€ 3 570 625,00

EU contribution

€ 2 499 437,50

Coordinated by

IONKRAFT GMBH
Germany

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - IonKraftCoating (Plasma technology as enabler for sustainable plastic packaging)

Reporting period: 2024-04-01 to 2025-06-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Plastics have enormous recycling potential. However, many products require a higher barrier effect from their packaging than standard plastic materials can offer. In order to provide this barrier function, multi-material packaging or fluorine-based coatings are widely used today. These solutions are not recyclable or lead to the formation of PFAS, the harmful "forever chemicals". Depending on the industry, this accounts for up to 25% of all plastic packaging, which is a major problem for industry and the environment given the 16 million tons produced each year in Europe alone. IonKraft has developed the world's first fluorine-free plasma coating technology, which has the potential to eliminate all non-recyclable and PFAS-containing plastic packaging from the market, enabling companies to meet the targets of the EU plastic strategy. The start-up is now bringing this pioneering technology out of the lab and into industrial application with a pilot coating production plant, which is currently being built with the help of the EIC Accelerator Program. As soon as the plastic packaging is manufactured, it is fed to the coating machine, which will apply the coating onto the plastic packaging in a seamless and automated process. The machine will be placed at a packaging producer and pilot partner by the end of 2024.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Before the start of the EIC Project, IonKraft developed a prototype coating machine to apply coatings to different types of packaging. One target of the EIC-Project is to optimize the coating machine for industrial scale production and add an automated bottle handling system to integrate the machine in-line into a packaging production line.

In the first year of the project, IonKraft conceptualised and designed a handling system for continuous coating production in collaboration with a partner company, which feeds the plastic packaging into the coating reactor from and to a continuously running conveyor belt. With this design, the pilot machine is set to reach an output of 720 coated canisters per hour in accordance with industry and safety standards.

In the second year of the project advanced from late design/assembly into commissioning with decisive validation milestones. The pilot coating machine for 5 L containers targeting was assembled and prepared for inline integration with the blow‑moulder. Mechanical, vacuum/gas, vapourizing, and handling subsystems were integrated on the pilot frame. Commissioning activities focused on stability, throughput, and safety, culminating in the completion and approval of the risk and safety assessment and a successful Factory Acceptance Test. In parallel, the handling system was stabilized to achieve production speed, demonstrating that the motion, transfer, and synchronization logic meet the nominal cycle time under production‑like conditions.

Following FAT, efforts shifted to site readiness and process robustness. A pilot production run was executed over several weeks. The performance of the coating was controlled in several runs and was proven to be stable.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

After the initial pilot production run, the system was shown to be stable. A Site Acceptance Test (SAT) is planned to confirm stable operation. After the SAT, a long-term production should start to prove robust processes over a longer period with comprehensive data logging to provide evidence of performance for stakeholders.
On the commercial side, readiness will depend on developing a service and spare parts strategy, operator training, and ensuring supplier quality assurance for critical subsystems. Access to markets and finance can be supported by generating customer references from the first deployment and building a strong business case for scaling out to additional production lines. Intellectual property protection is also important, including safeguarding design improvements and conducting freedom-to-operate checks. Finally, internationalization and compliance with relevant standards will require site-independent documentation and ongoing adherence to machinery safety and customer requirements, facilitating future roll-outs and broader market adoption.

Plasma coating process of a 5 L container in the pilot machine

Plasma coating process of a 5 L container in the pilot machine

Reactor System Coating App