The group aims to create a thermoplastic wood-fibre-base alternative to the use of oil-based packaging materials in food packaging, especially for sliced cheeses.
Adcellpack consists of: Distribuciones Juan Luna and Papelera de Brandia in Spain; Elastopoli Oy, Finland; Skymark Packaging International, UK; one large enterprise, Centros Comerciales Carrefour, Spain; along with VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and ITENE Packaging, Transport and Logistics Research Center in Spain, the latter as coordinator of the initiative.
All parties are said to have expertise in paper production, bioplastics processing, conversion of packaging materials, and cheese production.
“A fully sustainable solution will be developed that will maintain the freshness of the product and assure its food contact safety,” the group says.
“The solution will provide actual or improved shelf life through the use of cellulosic materials and biodegradable polymers, with simplified production.”
The group intends the new product to have broad possibilities for application in several food products currently packaged using MAP.
“Materials based on cellulose can be an outstanding alternative to substitute materials currently used in MAP,” Adcellpack says. With a budget of €1.4 million, the two-year project – which began in November 2012 – is financed by the EU (FP7-SME-2012 Research for the benefit of specific groups).
