Spanish plastics technology centre Aimplas (Valencia; www.aimplas.net) and technology and innovation centre Ainia (Paterna, Valencia; www.ainia.es) are collaborating on the “Sostpack” project to improve the properties of biopolymers to facilitate their incorporation into food and beverage packaging.

The two organisations are working together on the development of formulations for bioplastics to meet the requirements for food packaging materials. The research project, which began this year and lasts 24 months, involves tests to investigate the barrier to moisture, oxygen and heat resistance of biodegradable materials that are marketed today, and includes structural improvements to these materials, in order for them to be processed using conventional industrial equipment.

The development of these formulations will allow a large number of applications in the field of food packaging, the organisations believe. In addition, there is interest in other potential sectors including plastic packaging for non-food use, such as customised consumer goods.

The project’s work relies on modifying the properties of bioplastics without incorporating additives. It is working on the combination of various technologies including modification by chemical means – a reactive extrusion process that induces changes at morphological and structural level – and physical – a mixture of one or more polymers with other substances, which causes changes in physical properties of the material.