PulPac consortium secures BioInnovation funding to pioneer PFAS- and plastic-free barriers for food

10 May 2022 --- The consortium of PulPac, Nordic Barrier Coating (NBC) and OrganoClick has been granted financial support for the continued development of 100% bio-based, plastic- and PFAS-free barriers and materials for demanding food packaging applications. The development project is funded by the Swedish strategic innovation program BioInnovation financed by the Swedish innovation agency Vinnova. 

In 2021, the consortium announced a lab-level breakthrough in the Swedish Dry Molded Fiber barrier project, uncovering “great potential” to drive the uptake of Dry Molded Fiber in the most challenging packaging applications.

With the new funding, the consortium will continue the project focusing on the integration of commercially-scalable environmentally friendly water or grease resistant barriers specialized in Dry Molded Fiber.

“The combined performance in OrganoClick’s chemistry and scalability coupled with NBC’s dynamic ability to form specialized materials makes this a very important project,” says Viktor Börjesson, chief partnership officer at PulPac.The EU proposed a blanket ban on harmful packaging chemicals like PFAS in April.

“Dry Molded Fiber is disrupting fiber-forming, making it possible to manufacture paper packaging without wasting valuable water resources or energy and significantly reducing CO2 at unit economics that are very competitive. These solutions are plastic-free, biodegradable and recyclable – very important qualities to our customers.”

Dan Blomstrand, VP Biocomposites at OrganoClick AB, adds: “We are very eager to continue building on the breakthroughs reached in step one of this BioInnovation program. The potential markets being enabled in packaging and single-use products with our 100% bio-based and home-compostable coating and binder products for Dry Molded Fiber by PulPac are enormous.” 

Urban Winberg, CEO at Nordic Barrier Coating AB, also comments: “The delicate art of designing materials and combining functions from OrganoClick’s chemistry adapted for Dry Molded Fiber has yielded very exciting opportunities as shown in last year’s breakthroughs. We can now invest in infrastructure and industrial capacity to commercially pilot the solutions discovered and cater to Dry Molded Fiber’s global uptake.”

Fighting “forever chemicals”
In April, the EU announced that it would ban the use of harmful chemical groups like PFAS, bisphenol and PVC by 2030. The political commitment, which has not yet been entered into legislation, is expected to drastically diminish human and environmental health damage and save billions of dollars in associated costs.

Meanwhile, McDonald’s and Burger King are facing class-action lawsuits in the US for using PFAS chemicals in their packaging. The fast-food chains are accused of fraud, misrepresentation and false advertising for claiming the food they serve is safe. However, no specific examples of consumer harm are included in the lawsuits.

PulPac aims to replace single-use plastic items and packaging at scale with cost-competitive Dry Molded Fiber alternatives, like coffee lids.

By Joshua Poole