Hydrophobic Nano Coating for Cardboard Food Packaging with a 40% increased resistance to water and 3x times longer durability

Project Information

HydroNanoCoating

Grant agreement ID: 744881

DOI

10.3030/744881

Project closed

EC signature date 28 November 2016

Start date 1 December 2016

End date 31 March 2017

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine, maritime and inland water research, and the bioeconomy

Total cost

€ 71 429,00

EU contribution

€ 50 000,00

Coordinated by

ENSATEC SL
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - HydroNanoCoating (Hydrophobic Nano Coating for Cardboard Food Packaging with a 40% increased resistance to water and 3x times longer durability)

Reporting period: 2016-12-01 to 2017-03-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

HydroNanoCoating is a new generation of advanced liquid coatings based on super hydrophobic silica nanoparticles which will mitigate a common problem in the paper and cardboard industry: the 5% of the EU losses of packed food or valuables arisen from damage caused mainly by contact with water. The importance of a durable packaging is notable as corrugated cardboard packs and protects more than 34% of European goods, purpose totally ruined if cardboard is wet as the box collapses and the content loses its value.
Hence, we expect 1) To launch to the market HydroNanoCoating in 2019, increasing the production to 5,000 tn in 2023, increasing our revenue by 85%, which means almost 40 M€ turnover; 2) To have signed agreements with at least 5 paper mills, 20 cardboard manufacturers and 20 cardboard packaging manufacturers in 2023. To achieve those commercial goals, we need to accomplish the following technical objectives: 1) To have three types of successfully coated products (paper/cardboard/corrugated cardboard) and 2) To certificate and register the process.

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

Technically, we have reviewed the specifications of HydroNanoCoating and defined a set of tests, and target values that will be used during Phase 2 execution. We have tailored the coating viscosity to allow its application over paper/cardboard and corrguated cardboard and we have prepared a complete Execution Plan for the development of HydroNanoCoating products, including planning, organization, risk analysis and budget. Commercially, we have assessed our target markets, including the competition, to consolidate our marketing strategy. A technology watch and patent search has been performed to ensure our Freedom-to-Operate. Finally, on the economic side, financial forecasts, based on the marketing and price policy, have been drafted to evaluate on a 5-year-projection.

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)

The Phase 2 of this project will be the starting point of our further growth to increase our production capacity to 5,000 ton/year for HydroNanoCoating and selling 4,000 ton/years by 2023. This will mean for ENSATEC to boost its representation in the coating sector. We also estimate that we will create 15 jobs in 5 years to cover the design and manufacturing demand. Considering wider societal implications, HydroNanoCoating can potentially save more than € 2 Bn derived from food waste due to water damage.

Cartboard wettability with HydroNanoCoating