SVARNISH

"SVARNISH: varnish development with antimicrobial, oxygen and water vapour barrier properties and improved physic-mechanical properties, to be used in food industry"

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'The project summary The SVARNISH project objective is the development of a varnish with antimicrobial oxygen and water vapour barrier properties and improved physic-mechanical properties, to be used in food industry. The SVARNISH project aims to overcome the flexible packaging limitations related with the traditional food plastic materials, competitive costs, the chemical properties (antimicrobial, oxygen and water vapor), physic-mechanical properties (simplifying the multilayer structures, and improving the simples ones), environmental and sustainable development. We aim to reduce the price of the food packaging around 20% and reduce waste material 8-10%, decreasing the time process manufacturing in a 50%, and reducing the energy consumption in the same 50%. Reduce food waste by 50% and the 85% of the films used for food packaging industry will be recyclable. The food industry spends approximately $84 billion a year on food packaging and processing. Of the total food cost, approximately 8% of the price to the consumer is spent on food packaging and processing. Therefore, it is beneficial to both the consumer and the food industry to use food packaging methods that are both functionally and cost effective. A number of broad drivers in the packaging sector are shaping innovation in product and process development: Reduction in materials usage, lightweighting, increases the barrier properties requirements, increase the speed production, increase the product shelf life, Improve the environmental balance, recyclability or biodegradability. Plastic packaging supposes a great environmental problem, due to their extensive uses, their difficulty to be recycled and their high volume/weight ratio. The manufacturing process applied to the flexible packaging conversion has over the 43% of environmental impact of the total of the printing industry, due to the plastic residues generated and VOCs emitted during manufacturing process: inks, varnishes and other additives. The impact on our environment can be minimized by improving packaging structures, selecting materials and following established regulatory guidelines, The structure of SVARNISH consortium has been selected through a logical process from “the raw material needed to improve the varnish to the final printing process”, all supply chain it is represented. SVARNISH could become a solution which will improve packaging structures in an environmental and in a cost efficient way by reducing the structures, by the other hand will confer to packaging structures, barrier and improved physic-mechanical properties.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

Researchers are developing a varnish with antimicrobial, moisture and oxygen as improved physic-mechanical properties, to be used in food packaging industry.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

The EU-funded http://www.svarnish.eu (SVARNISH) project aims to use nanotechnology to improve the oxygen, antimicrobial and moisture barrier properties of currently used food packing. It also aims to reduce the environmental impact and production costs of such packaging by simplifying traditional multilayer structures for easier recycling.

Current work is focus in the reduction of the use of laminated multilayer films (which may be complex to manufacture) with a single varnish formulation that can be easily applied to a variety of substrates. The development of a varnish formulation with a high barrier to oxygen and water will allow shelf-life extension of foods (initially, bakery goods are the target application), reducing food waste and potentially reducing reliance on metallised, multi-layered films for high barrier applications as these are expensive and difficult to recycle.

Component materials selected are based upon safety in use as food packaging additives and for the performance properties provided to the varnish when applied to the film substrate: gas barrier performance is realised by the tortuous path to gas diffusion provided by high aspect ratio platy minerals (organically-modified nanoclays); optimum exfoliation of the clay platelets is achieved by a process of in-situ polymerisation, requiring the incorporation of an organic modifier that is stable at the high temperature involved in the synthesis of the selected polymeric carrier; encapsulated volatile essential oils are investigated for incorporation in the polymer matrix for antimicrobial activity.

A varnish formulation is formulated by dispersing the nanocomposite developed and the essential oil selected and optimised for flexible printing technologies; (flexography and gravure) for food packaging application. This varnish layer would provide enhanced barrier properties usually found in multilayer packaging, while being cheaper to produce and easier to recyclable.

Once the packaging for food quality and safety is evaluated, SVARNISH will test prototypes to determine which foods can be packaged using the new product. Ultimately, SVARNISH's structurally simple and eco-friendly packaging could positively impact the environment through lessened material use and food waste.