Eco-friendly Food Packaging Wins Global Award
A project to revolutionise food packaging by replacing plastic film with an environmentally-friendly
starch and clay combination has won a global prize for innovation.
CaiLar replaces petroleum-based plastic films by using natural materials to coat cardboard and produce moisture-resistant food packaging. This reduces the packaging industry's reliance on plastics and decreases the number of packages based on petroleum products.
The project, a collaboration between Sheffield Hallam University and Karlstad University in Sweden, came third in the Innovators contest at Globe Forum 2010, an international meeting focused on Business Innovation for Sustainable Growth, held in Stockholm. The contest drew entries from around the world and saw competitors pitch their ideas in just 60 seconds.
The CaiLar product was developed by SustainPack - a European research programme to encourage the wide use of traditional natural based packaging products by producing easily degradable, renewable and recyclable packaging based on biopolymers, paper and board.
Professor Chris Breen, head of Sheffield Hallam University's Polymers, Nanocomposites and Modelling Research Centre, has worked with Karlstad's associate professor Caisa Andersson and Professor Lars Jarnstrom on the project which involves replacing petroleum-based plastic films with a coating of starch and clay in paper packaging.
Professor Breen said: "This competition was a completely different experience. Our presence in this contest and at this exhibition has aroused lots of interest in our innovative approach.
"Consumption is increasing in society and it is increasingly important to find replacement materials for the plastic films that dominate today's packages. This is an important project and it is about contributing to environmental sustainability in the future.
"In our study we have shown that protection against moisture improved significantly when we mix in a natural materials, clay. The clay helps to delay moisture penetration. Thefact that there is good supply of raw material and that large-scale productio n is easily achevieable are important factors and there are added benefits from a recycling viewpoint.
"The typical consumer in Europe uses ten to 20 pieces of packaging everyday, so where the waste packaging ends up should be at the forefront of our minds. It is expected that Britain will run out of approved space for landfill sites in five to ten years time and as the Government struggles to reduce CO2 emissions, renewable packaging stands out as an attractive proposition."
by: Nick Farmilo
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