The project: Biopolymer nanocomposite films for use in food packaging applications (NanoPack) is a research project funded by The Danish Council for Strategic research, The Danish Research and Innovation Agency, with partners from: Risoe DTU, National Food Institute (DTU), Faculty of Life Sciences (KU), Faerch Plast A/S and Danish Meat Association.The use of plastics in packaging currently consumes about 40 % of all plastic production. About half of this amount is used in food packaging which is largely dominated by petrochemical-derived plastics. Upon disposal, packaging plastics typically degrade very slowly and do not meet increasing demands in society for sustainability and environmental safety. Plastics produced from biopolymers such as polylactide (PLA) are of increasing commercial interests as they are manufactured from renewable resources such as agricultural crop wastes and have the potential to meet environmental and health requirements. However, wider use of PLA in applications like food packaging still requires further material development in order to achieve the necessary heat and mechanical stability, reduced brittleness and reduced gas or water vapor permeability. In the NanoPack project we will investigate improvement of PLA properties through nanoscale reinforcement using reinforcing fillers based on natural clay silicates and metal hydroxides. Development, pilot-scale production and testing of packaging performance of the new nanocomposite food packaging materials will run in parallel with investigations on release, migration, transformation and the toxicological effects of the incorporated nanoparticle fillers. The project will combine the complementary skills in five different research groups spanning polymer and solid state chemistry, food and analytical chemistry, as well as toxicology.
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