Environmentally focused packaging producer Biopac has announced its leading involvement with ISA-Pack, an international consortium which has secured a €3m grant from the European Commission to develop innovative packaging to reduce food spoilage.
Funded by the EC’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), ISA-Pack is a three-year project that aims to develop fully sustainable packaging for fresh foods to extend shelf life, improve quality and reduce waste.
Perishable fresh food wastage in the supply chain is estimated to be approximately 10% – ISA-Pack seeks to reduce this wastage by more than half.
The project is tasked with developing two new biopolymer materials: stretch wrap films suitable for the replacement of conventional PVC stretch film; and gas barrier sheets and films suitable for the manufacture of modified atmosphere packaging (and including vacuum packaging).
Stretch wrap packaging produced from microbes that feed on sustainable natural materials may provide the answer to high performance protection stretch film packaging. And intelligent indicator systems that can be directly printed onto packaging materials will also be investigated to combine time/temperature indicators (to monitor bacterial growth) with freshness indicators.
Biopac director Mark Brigden says: “For retailers, ISA-Pack has the potential to extend shelf life and reduce wastage of fresh foods.
“The opportunity to combine the use of sustainable materials and create significant supply chain benefits in extending shelf life is a major leap forward in fresh food packaging.”
In addition to Biopac, other companies and organisations from around Europe contributing to the ISA-Pack project include:
The UK Materials Technology Research Institute
The University of Birmingham, UK
Campden BRI, UK
Domino Printing Sciences, UK
Instituto Tecnológico del Embalaje, Transporte y Logística (ITENE), Spain
FKUR Kunststoff, Germany
Asociación Empresarial de Investigación Centro Tecnológico del Calzado y del Plástico de la Región de Murcia (CETEC), Spain
Omniform, Belgium
Intrex, Poland
