Finnish companies Teknos, a leading coatings supplier and Brightplus, a biosourced materials company have joined together in a collaborative effort to develop new bio-based and biodegradable solutions for food packaging and servcieware.
Both are companies that are strongly committed to sustainability and innovation. For Teknos, the packaging industry is a new venture; the company is mainly active in the development of coatings for the retail and architectural industries, with a focus on environmental sustainable solutions.
“Our strengths lie within the experience from different raw materials, various substrates and coating methods. It is only natural that we apply this strong know-how to create solutions for different industries as well”, said Tuomas Aspiala, Group Commercial Manager at Teknos, explaining the collaboration.
Paper and paperboard used in food packaging or serviceware are traditionally coated with a thin film of plastic. However, this can make it difficult to recycle and eventually increase the amount of waste.
The two companies have meanwhile reached the second stage of their project, following the successful completion of the first step - the development of a bio-based, biodegradable barrier coating able to replace traditional fossil-based plastic film.
“By replacing the traditional plastic film with this new bio-based barrier coating, we can increase the eco-friendliness of food packaging products. The solution can also enable wider use of fibre-based material in food packaging,” said Aspiala.
“In the second phase, Teknos aims to develop, together with our partners, a commercial outcome that can be produced on an industrial scale,” he added.
After a year of R&D, the companies aim to increase the chemical functionality of the material and take a major leap forward in scaling up and piloting the developed material. “This year will ensure its commercial availability for industrial-scale production”, said Jarkko Leivo, Technology Director at Brightplus.