EU-funded FlexFunction2Sustain project empowers packaging circularity with research and industry-unifying innovation

11 Nov 2020 --- The four-year EU-funded FlexFunction2Sustain eco-friendly packaging initiative is uniting 19 European research and industry partners in a smart plastics and paper-based products Open Innovation Test Bed (OITB). Dr. Esra Kücükpinar, materials development specialist at the project’s partner – the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging (Fraunhofer IVV) – outlines the progress, barriers and goals.

Launched in April and coordinated by the Fraunhofer Institute for Organic Electronics, Electronic Beam and Plasma technology (Fraunhofer FEP), FlexFunction2Sustain is financed by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement number 862156 and supports the plastics and paper processing industries in overcoming food and pharmaceutical packaging challenges in the digital age.

The project envisages new business opportunities in replacing glass and metal with nano-functionalized plastic or paper surfaces in various products, enabling reductions in weight and cost and mechanical flexibility gains.

Moreover, nano-functionalized plastic or paper surfaces enhance water and oxygen barriers and surface conductivity and enable antimicrobial and anti-viral properties or chemical and corrosion resistance.

FlexFunction2Sustain is also working to ensure its innovative packaging solutions support the EU Plastics Strategy’s requirements to make all packaging reusable or recyclable by 2030 and in an economically viable way.

Early success stories
Although the project only kicked off around six months ago, Kücükpinar is already highlighting success stories. “Firstly, the project partners have already progressed towards establishing an OITB for nano-functionalized flexible plastic and paper surfaces and membranes, supporting innovative SMEs by drastically reducing time and effort to bring a product idea to market success.”Dr. Esra Kücükpinar, materials development specialist at Fraunhofer IVV.

“In parallel, there are several ongoing pilot line upgrades at the project’s research and industrial partners, including vacuum coating and thin film processing, atmospheric pressure coating and printing, circularity by design, compounding and formulations.”

“At Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging (Fraunhofer IVV), we develop novel formulations and corresponding coating processes, replacing multi-material packaging with mono-materials to enable the circular use of plastics and state-of-the-art recycling processes,” she tells PackagingInsights.

Fraunhofer IVV is developing a novel nano-functionalized coating formulation, replacing complicated multi-material laminates with a mono-material, polyolefin-based laminate.

Nano-functionalization necessities
The demand for environmentally sustainable products in various applications requires a redesign of products and components, and the introduction of novel material formulations, reiterates Kücükpinar.

“State-of-the-art packaging materials for food and non-food productions, such as PET, polyethylene (PE) and aluminum laminates, are neither recyclable due to the usage of a material mix of metal and plastics, nor biodegradable.”

“They need to be replaced by either biodegradable polymers or mono-material based laminates. However, all available polymeric materials exhibit insufficient functional surface properties that generate an urgent need for surface nano-functionalization prior to application.”

Nano-functionalization of surfaces with gas barrier layers reduces both the water vapor and oxygen transmission rates significantly and can fulfill the sensitive product requirements.

“One possibility is depositing the barrier layers at a layer thickness of around 60 nm using vacuum deposition processes. Another possibility is to formulate new lacquers by the incorporation of nanoplatelets,” explains Kücükpinar.FlexFunction2Sustain is helping partners upgrade their pilot lines to overcome various technological hurdles (Image credit: Fraunhofer IVV).

“These nanoplatelets, once properly incorporated into a polymeric lacquer, create a tortuous pathway for permeating gas molecules, increasing the gas barrier performance.”

Fraunhofer IVV is developing deposition and nanoplatelets technologies for food and non-food flexible packaging applications to enhance recyclability. 

Barriers to progress
FlexFunction2Sustain’s biggest technical challenge is the lack of process technologies required to produce nano-functionalized surfaces on desired recyclable or biodegradable plastic films, Kücükpinar tells PackagingInsights.

“For example, one of the most suitable candidates for mono-material packaging are polyolefins, such as PP or PE, but PE exhibits mechanical and thermo-mechanical properties (such as high elongation during processing, damaging thin film’s nano-coatings) preventing proper processing on state-of-the-art roll-to-roll machines for surface nano-functionalization.”

“State-of-the-art processes and existing pilot lines are, therefore, not prepared for the nano-functionalization of polyolefin-based surfaces.”

The project identifies business opportunities by replacing glass and metal with nano-functionalized plastic (Image credit: Fraunhofer IVV).The project is helping partners upgrade their production processes, pilot lines, and characterization possibilities to overcome various technological hurdles.

Trumping glass and metal
Nano-functionalized plastic or paper packaging boasts several environmental sustainability benefits over glass and metal, notes Kücükpinar.

“The main opportunities are reducing weight and cost, or gaining mechanical flexibility by providing additional functionalities.”

“The transport costs for glass are significantly higher than plastics due to weight. Moreover, glass packaging only makes sense if reused frequently. The recycling of glass is highly energy-intensive, and melting temperature is high, leading to high-energy consumption.”

Europe-wide holistic services
OITB services will be made available to the industry through a “single entry point” company before summer 2021. The company will act as the general contractor for customers, managing all OITB services and optimized efficiency actions.

Customers will gain access to partner services in more than 10 EU countries in native languages or English. The single entry point eliminates the need to negotiate multiple service contracts in different countries and organize material transfers and information exchange between suppliers. Strategic partnerships with regional agents ensure access to the whole European Market.

FlexFunction2Sustain is launching two competitive calls for up to 20 pre-commercial SME-targeted pilot cases to accelerate OITB uptake. The first call will open in January 2022 and invite SMEs to submit innovation project proposals to FlexFunction2Sustain. It is also planning for the best-rated projects to receive discounted services from the OITB.

By Joshua Poole