VATIS UPDATE Article

Researchers at Bio-on, Italy, and the University of Tampere, Finland, have created the first material to team paper and bioplastic designed for the food packaging of the future. It will also be the only biodegradable material. A joint project launched in 2015 has produced for the very first time tetrapak type containers made of a combination of paper and bioplastic, namely the special grade EC (Extrusion Coating) of the Minerv PHA biopolymer developed by Bio-on. To achieve this, researchers replaced the polyethylene contained in current packaging, maintaining all of its impermeability, and created a material that is totally naturally biodegradable.

The project aims to develop specific, eco-sustainable and, for the first time, fully biodegradable formulations, in order to make laminates with paper without using films, but instead fusing the biopolymer directly onto the paper using an extrusion process, without losing out on the end product’s functionality and aesthetic. Based on Bio-on’s revolutionary biopolymer, 100% naturally biodegradable and already tested in dozens of applications, from automotive to design to biomedical, Minerv PHA EC (Extrusion Coating) is safe and particularly suited for use with food.

Bio-on bioplastics are made from renewable plant sources, some of which is waste, with no competition with food supply chains, and are 100% naturally biodegradable. The Minerv PHA EC (extrusion coating) industrial research and development project produces polylaminate via extrusion of the molten PHA polymer directly onto the paper or cardboard substrate, with subsequent cooling and consolidation of the plastic film by passing through cooled rollers (an overall process entitled Extrusion Coating). Contact: Bio-On S.p.A, via Dante 7/b, 40016 San Giorgio di Piano (BO), Marco Astorri, Italy. Tel: +39-051-893-001; E-mail: info@bio-on.it.