Most of today’s plastics are petroleum-based, but scientists are now trying to create a climate-friendly alternative to plastics from renewable resources; bioplastic and MFC.
Cellulose out of wood can be broken down into what is called micro fibrillated cellulose. MFC consists of plant fibres that are only 100 nanometres in diameter, but can be extremely long, making them highly suitable as a reinforcement material for biodegradable plastics.
MFC membranes have also been shown to be impermeable to gases such as oxygen and can therefore be used to protect foodstuffs.
As compared to recycled plastics which often end up a step or two lower down the quality ladder than the original raw material. MFC fibrils in combination with bioplastics will help produce high-quality, environmentally friendly packaging in the form of products such as bottles, jars and plastic foil.
This project under the name NanoBarrier project has total budget of is €9.9 million, of which €7.2 million comes from the European Union. The project currently has 15 participants, of which six are industrial companies, including packaging manufacturers from Greece (Argo), Portugal (Logoplaste) and Sweden (Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget – SCA).
Norwegian Borregaard is contributing microfilbillated cellulose – MFC to the project as a main suppliers. This company produces the fibrils that will make bioplasctic impermeable to oxygen.
The first phase of the project will look at methods and a range of possibilities. Work on the first prototype is expected to get under way in a couple of years.
