Newpack

The NEWPACK – Development of New Competitive and Sustainable Bio-Based Plastics – project was launched on June 2018 with consortium of 13 partners consisting of academic research organizations and small and large industries coming from Finland, Spain, Italy, Sweden, United Kingdom, Romania, Switzerland and Belgium. University of Oulu, Finland, is the project coordinator.

The objective of the NEWPACK project is to produce at least two new bio-plastics based on PHB-PLA blends with improved sustainability performance for food packaging applications. PHB-PLA blends will be improved by addition of natural extracts with antioxidant and antibacterial properties and by nanosize additives based on chitin and cellulose to enhance mechanical properties. The production of these new bio-plastic products will be validate at relevant industrial environment.

The raw materials for these new bio-plastics are agro-food waste such as potato peel, corn residues, wheat straws, orange peels and crustacean shells. As bio-plastics are defined as polymers having bio-based raw material and/or being biodegradable, the aim of the NEWPACK project is to solve issues addressed to petrochemical-based polymers; the adequacy and availability of raw material, carbon dioxide emissions, waste management and microplastic pollution.

While developing these new bio-plastic based food packaging application, the NEWPACK project will carefully take into account the regulations and legislation, as well as the end-user preferences and consumer surveys. Special care will be taken on not to compromise actual food production at any stage while gaining raw material for the bio-plastics. Thus a new circular economy value chain will be generated from the agro-food waste.

The NEWPACK project has received funding from the Bio-Based Industries Joint Undertaking under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 792261 (NewPack project).