YPACK · HIGH PERFORMANCE POLYHYDROXYALKANOATES BASED PACKAGING TO MINIMISE FOOD WASTE

The main objective of YPACK is the pre-industrial scale up and validation of two innovative food packaging solutions (thermoformed tray and flow pack bag) based on PHA, with active and passive barrier properties. New packaging will use food industry by-products (cheese whey and almond shells), assure the biodegradability and recyclability, and reduce food waste, in the frame of the EU Circular Economy strategy.YPACK will use a holistic approach and methodology involving different knowledge areas: Development of packaging solutions (Production of PHBV layers, compounding, prototyping, Industrial Validation), Product Validation (Quality / Shelf life), Social approach (Customer profiling, Dissemination, Policies & Regulatory) and Market Assessment (Business study and Risk assessment). YPACK is aligned with the EU Circular Economy strategy, including the use of raw bio-based food industry by-products, LCA studies, recyclability & biodegradability of packaging and trying to reduce Food Waste. The project is constructed in line with the Responsible Research and Innovation guidelines of the European Commission.The project has a total duration of 36 months. Several processes related to the production of multilayered passive and active systems based on raw PHBV will be optimised and scaled up to pre-industrial size to validate the production of the proposed packaging solutions for extend the shelf life of selected food products. They consist in:i) a multilayer tray involving an inner active layer, and ii) a multilayer flow pack with improved barrier properties. A consumer profiling and market study will be performed at the first stage of the project in order to identify consumers´ preferences, market needs and match them with the new EU regulations and packaging materials breakthroughs.