WHEYLAYER 2 · WHEYLAYER2: barrier biopolymers for sustainable packaging

The WHEYLAYER 2 project is based on the WHEYLAYER project that has been recognized by the EC as a star project with high dissemination potential and has received a lot of interest from the packaging industry and its end users. The WHEYLAYER project developed a biopolymer-coating based on pure whey protein isolates for plastic films able to replace currently used expensive synthetic oxygen barrier. WHEYLAYER reached Oxygen Transmission Rate (OTR, Q100) of 1 cm3/m2 d bar at 23ºC and 50% RH and Water Vapour Transmission Rate (WVTR, Q100) of 2 g/m² d. The WHEYLAYER material is easily recyclable, the LCA showed significant reduction of the resulting packaging environmental impact, and preliminary evaluation showed that it fulfilled food safety regulations (migration, emission of volatile compounds). A patent application was filled regarding the coating process and a WHEYLAYER prototype application machine was built that reaches semi-industrial production speed while keeping satisfactory barrier properties.WHEYLAYER 2 will focus on up-scaling the results obtained in WHEYLAYER project, proving their industrialisation potential. It will focus on final packaging items (trays, blisters, tubes and cans as opposed to films and sheets in the WHEYLAYER project) and additional specific functionalities (e.g. convertibility, printability, UV barrier). Main markets evaluated will be cosmetics and pharmaceutical packaging in addition to food. Since WHEYLAYER exceeds the barrier properties of existing biopolymer and due to the pull for recyclable packaging, the market opportunties for WHEYLAYER appear huge as a potential substitute for EVOH and PVDC. The WHEYLAYER technology will result in recyclable multilayer packaging. WHEYLAYER2 will be heavily disseminated while maximasing the exploitability of the material and finally fill the gap for environmentally friendly packaging materials for sensitive products meeting the expectations of the increasing amount of ""green"" consumers.""