Bioplastic developed into food packaging through nanotechnology

Packaging accounts for about 40 % of the entire plastic production worldwide and roughly half of this quantity is used for food packaging. At present, most plastic is made from crude oil and degrades very slowly in the environment. Bioplastics on the other hand are generally both biodegradable and sustainable since they can be produced from renewable and CO2- neutral sources such as waste plant material.
From an environmental point of view, bioplastics represent a positive alternative to traditional plastic types. However, to meet the requirements of the food industry the properties of bioplastics have to be improved. These properties include strength, heat stability and water vapour or oxygen permeability.
To achieve such improvements the scientists in the project are going to use nanotechnology. They will examine how they can mix various minerals (e.g., clay particles) of nano size into the plastic. In this way they will be able to create a composite material which is stronger and less permeable than pure bioplastic.
”In the project group we have just held a kick-off meeting where all partners met for the first time. We also now have a project home page at www.nanopack.dk. This home page will be developed over time to include more information about the project and the research results” says David Plackett.

Participants in the project
The project is supported by the Danish Council for Strategic Research and the Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation. The participants are Risø – DTU, The National Food Institute - DTU, the Faculty of Life Sciences, KU, Faerch Plast A/S and the Danish Meat Association.

For more information: 
Senior scientist David Plackett, +45 4677 5487, david.plackett@risoe.dk
Senior advisor Marianne Strange, +45 4677 5483