BIOnTop’s research teams are pursuing various strategies to optimise biopolymers with a specific focus on protein-based coatings. European Bioplastics supports the BIOnTop project as consortium partner.
Most sensitive foods are packaged in multi-layer composite films to ensure sufficient flavour, water vapor, and oxygen barriers to maintain products’ quality and increase its shelf life. However, most of these composite materials cannot be recycled. BIOnTop aims to develop fully recyclable and bio-based packaging materials in order to provide more sustainable packaging alternatives that offer optimised barrier properties and new end-of-life options. For this purpose, the project research currently focusses on polylactic acid (PLA)-based films. PLA is produced from renewable biomass and offers various end-of-life options, including mechanical as well as organic recycling (composting). Furthermore, PLA-based plastics can be produced on an industrial scale and already account for a considerable share of the global bioplastics production. The optical and mechanical properties of PLA films are comparable to those of conventional petrochemical polyester films. Yet, they are less suitable for fresh products with a medium to long shelf life due to lower oxygen and water vapour barrier properties. In order to achieve better barrier properties, PLA-based films can be modified by new coating technologies.
To this end, BIOnTop’s research teams are pursuing various strategies to optimise biopolymers with a specific focus on protein-based coatings. The research builds on the results of a number of previous EU research projects in this field, namely Wheylayer and