Packaging materials are used more increasingly in our current society, driven by an increased consumption of foods outside of the home, convenience for consumers, smaller households and as a result more packaging in relation to food. The majority of nowadays packaging are made from finite, fossile based sources, different types of plastics. Multilayer plastic packaging are difficult to recycle, and if they end up in the environment through unintended littering or leakage from landfills and logistics, cause major problems in the environment due to the their inherent property of being very difficult or have a very slow degradation. This causes accelerating problems in wildlife, plants, and eventually also the humans through the consumption of food.
The base of PULPACKTION innovation, lies in the use of renewable, bio-based, bio-degradable and carbon-neutral cellulose fibers, coupled with bio-based and bio-degradable bio-polymers for barrier properties.
Using raw materials from Europe, cellulose and starches from both agri- and forest culture, we are reducing dependence on imported crude oil, contributing positively to development of local, sustainable economies inside Europe.
The project benefits Europes ambitions to develop sustainable and innovative technologies and economies in a green-tech sector.
Five main specific objectives were identified on the DoA, and are listed below:
Objective 1: Improvement of existing wood pulp wet moulded materials for the development of tailored-to-purpose pulps. (WP2)
In this objective we have analyzed 12 different kinds of pulp, both mechanical pulp, sulphite pulp and sulphate pulp. Once evaluated, these formulations were upscaled as trays.
Objective 2: Improvement of current technology of cellulose wet moulded productions. (WP3)
Wet moulded process technology enhancements were focused to reach forming and pressing speeds more competitive than currents, reduce cycle and drying time and consequently improving final package industrial process and product characteristics.
Objective 3: To produce specific bio-based plastics materials to reach final product packaging and shelf-life requirements (WP4)
To fulfil final product’s packaging requirements by improving the properties of existing bio- based materials, leading to the substitution of current fossil-based packaging for 100% bio- based alternatives.
Objective 4: To develop sustainable final packaging materials able to reach targeted renewability criteria’s cited as sustainability indicators (WP1, WP5, WP8)
The reduction of 50% of CO2 emissions will be tackled in PULPACKTION project from several ways.The objective of reducing the overall carbon emission of more than 50% compared to current trays was demonstrated in the project.
Objective 5: To validate final packages in an industrial environment. (WP1, WP6, WP7))
Final demonstrators were obtained and validated at Dafgards and Angulas. The interaction between product-package and the distribution conditions simulation were performed in order to guarantee the industrial upscale at the end of the project. These validation was considered as positive against conventional packaging.
