The European Parliament aims to significantly reduce the amount of garbage in landfills in the next few years, which should not exceed 10% of all waste. Member States should transition to a circular economy model, not only because of the commitments but also because of the pollution, which causes the climate change and other global problems. Composting is one of the waste recycling methods that can be used to process biodegradable materials (e.g., food leftovers). Composting produces valuable organic fertilizer, and therefore such a recycling culture is an important aspect of the circular economy. Food is often packed in various composite containers, and it is not always possible to recycle it into packaging materials. Packaging is often contaminated with food leftovers, or it is not technologically possible to distinguish between different packaging components. One example of combined packaging is a paper box with a plastic panel. Even though paper packaging is often classified as environmentally friendly, biodegradable packaging, but in paper packaging that are in the market plastic panels are still used and they are made from ordinary plastic and not the biodegradable one. Such packaging does not comply with the EU Composting Standard EN 13432. Therefore, it would be rational to make food packages of fully composting materials that, after the packaging is used, could be composted along with food leftovers.
To solve this problem, the KTU team has developed a transparent and biodegradable plastic panel, made from biopolymers that was used to produce a prototype of a combined paper packaging. This panel ensures the visibility of food inside the combined paper packaging. During composting, after the packaging is used, it decomposes into environmentally friendly compounds at the same rate as the paper itself. The prototype of combined paper packaging, created by KTU team, meets all the requirements of the standard EN 13432. The examples of compostable packaging can be seen during the exhibition “Technorama 2018”.
Duration:
2018 - 2018
