Tetra Pak has begun groundbreaking research aimed at advancing the sustainability of fibre-based food packaging. This is done in collaboration with the Synchotron (X-ray) radiation laboratory MAX IV in Lund (Sweden) and the ForMAX research facility, which specializes in studying materials from forests.
Tetra Pak's research aims to gain new insights into the nanostructure of fiber materials. The company aims to develop new sustainable packaging solutions based on paper. They must use scarce resources as little as possible, be durable, be resistant to liquids, be safe for food and be easy to recycle.
The first application is aimed at optimizing the composition of material for paper straws. The Synchotron can be used to display in real time how the material responds to changes in the environment and to different types of fluids.
New insights
“This helps Tetra Pak gain new insights into plant-based materials as a basis for future innovations,” said Eva Gustavsson, Vice President Materials & Packaging at Tetra Pak. “We have the ambition to deliver the most sustainable food packaging in the world. It is fully recyclable and has minimal impact on the environment. The use of renewable materials and an increase in fiber-rich material is essential.”
According to Kim Nygård, manager of ForMAX beamline, MAX IV, the radiation experiment is a milestone for both academia and the packaging industry. “This research facility is the first of its kind and will facilitate both fundamental and applied industrial research into how new, sustainable materials can be used in the future.”
Source: Agro-Chemie.nl
Image: MAX IV
