Lactips and Citeo innovate paper coating from casein and vegetal additives in recyclability first

27 Oct 2021 --- French company Lactips has developed what it says is the world’s first coating for paper-based packaging free from plastics or toxic chemicals, certified as home compostable and marine biodegradable. Created in collaboration with recycling non-profit Citeo, the solution uses a cellulose matrix sourced from casein and vegetal additives.

Speaking to PackagingInsights, a Lactips spokesperson explains the packaging is designed to provide barrier properties for oxygen, fats, minerals and oils in paper-based solutions. The product resolves the need for plastic or toxic chemicals like per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which provide important food shelf life properties despite posing potential risks to human and environmental health.

“There are some alternatives to PFAS in the market, for example, coating with biopolymers such as polylactic acid (PLA). However, this alternative is not plastic-free according to the EU Single Use Plastics Directive.”

“Nor is it fully recyclable,” they state. “As the paper-based packaging will end in the paper recycling stream, we cannot ensure the end-of-life of those materials that biodegrade in industrial environments will be properly mastered.”

Chocolate wrapped in the casein and vegetal additive-based wrapping.Race to recyclability
While other non-toxic, plastic-free barrier materials are entering the market, the spokesperson says Lactips’ development is the “only solution” ensuring complete recyclability.

“Papers coated with waxes or silicones are not acceptable in recycling sites due to their hydrophobic nature that hinders the recycling process of paper.”

German foodservice packaging specialist Delivery Hero is fighting PFAS chemicals’ threats to environmental and human health by distributing 10 million units of plant-based fiber packaging to the sector.

Citeo collaboration
Citeo, a French eco-organism organization promoting packaging and paper recyclability, partnered with Lactips to “understand packaging and material end-of-life issues and unite companies along the value chain to solve recyclability and packaging problems,” the spokesperson continues.

“They trusted in our capacity to propose an innovative solution for paper coating and helped us make the proof of concept for Lactips’ technology.”

Lactips’ plastic-free paper packs used for pet food.The spokesperson explains the raw barrier material is made from casein and vegetal additives widely used in industry.

“There is no chemical transformation of these materials during the process, and that is why Lactips produces a thermoplastic compliant with the EU SUPD giving the most stringent definition of a ‘natural polymer.’”

All suppliers of the raw materials used to formulate the polymer are European-based, states the company.

Tests confirming no impact on the recyclability of the papers and cardboards have been carried out with Centre Technique du Papier (CTP) in France and Papiertechnische Stiftung (PTS) in Germany for the first applications, which will be available during the first half of 2022.

Fiber-based frenzy
As anti-plastics regulations rapidly come into force, and the British Prime minister Boris Johnson recently arguing plastic recycling “doesn’t work”, the industry is urgently looking for material innovations that can safely maintain food shelf life in the absence of virgin polymers and potentially dangerous barrier chemicals.

Innova Market Insights recognized the rise of fiber-based packaging as a top trend for 2021, with industry players innovating increasingly sophisticated plastic packaging replacements, from beverage containers to confectionery wrappers and pouches.

By Louis Gore-Langton

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