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Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - e-pack 3D (The intelligent online platform for lean packaging eco-design)

Teaser

Summary

About 80% of all environmental impact is determined in the initial phase of packaging design. Design has a direct impact on the recyclability of plastics and affects the possibility for products and waste materials to find their way back to the market. With the Plastics Strategy, the European Commission aims to encourage and support product design choices which take into account the entire life cycle of plastics and plastic products, making them more durable, reusable and easily recyclable. As packaging is one of the main uses of plastics, by 2030 all plastic packaging will be required to be either 100% recyclable or 100% reusable or 100% compostable. In addition, not only will new regulation affect the packaging industry but also consumers demand more healthy, accessible products, sustainable, personalised packaging at a price comparable to traditional plastics to eliminate any advantage the non-recyclable counterpart may have.
Making all plastic packaging recyclable is really a tough change for any manufacturer. It is costly. For example, UK Coca-Cola has developed new technologies over five years at a cost of â‚¬285.7 million to turn 100% of the packaging the company uses recyclable. It is time consuming, given that they need 1 year for a new design and at least 6 months for a re-design. The complexity and magnitude of the change cannot be solved by adding time or people alone, but must also be implemented into the company\'s strategy.

Work performed

We have adressed all of the work packages that were mentioned in the proposal, which are:

- Task 1.1 Technical validation
Within the technological feasibility study, we have analysed the 3D Click stage of development and defined its final specifications based on real market needs for each segment application (. We have established our technology roadmap to achieve the biggest impact in the market, developed specific designs
- Task 1.2 Market assessment and pilot identification
We have studied and obtained our target market to better know what is the size of our market.
- Task 1.3 Business model validation
Together with stakeholders (investors, clients, collaborators) we have updated our business model according to the change of focus of the platform.
- Task 1.4 Legal assessment
We have studied how to protect our platform legally.
- Task 1.5 Work Plan for Phase 2 and Risk assessment
According to the technical validation, we have developed a work plan to develop all te new features.
- Task 1.6 Business plan description
We have documented what is the strategy to follow from now on to succesfully commercialize our product.
- Task 1.7 Business Plan and Feasibility Report
We have written and documented all the work done during the Phase 1.

Final results

Current packaging design technological solutions can be divided into two major categories available on the market. These are namely: 1) Packaging design software (off-line). Either there are software for experts or tailor-made solutions exclusive for major brands, so the rest of the ecosystem cannot learn and help to improve. 2) On-line repositories. There are also repositories but without our filters (sustainability, flexibility and agility) and without relating the different compatible components with each other (from different suppliers). Moreover, there are no solutions that enable packaging suppliers create their 3D customisable catalogues easily and quickly by themselves.

We have already grouped both features in a same software and we plan to increase key features and functionalities to outstand even more and take our producte beyond the state of the art.