The concept of the bioeconomy is closely linked to the "circular economy" and is to be developed into a "circular bioeconomy".
However, the bioeconomy does not only focus on the optimisation of material flows and resource management, but also aims at social change processes and the biologisation of many branches of industry, which will result in completely new products and solutions.
Plastic is a material with many positive properties for packaging: Lightweight, inexpensive, break-resistant, durable - and is therefore used en masse. However, discarded plastic packaging has become an environmental burden worldwide. For many types of packaging - such as film pouches with a stand-up bottom - recycling is not possible because different plastics are bonded as laminates in one and the same package to achieve stability, sealability, printability, moisture resistance or oxygen impermeability. The different types of plastic in the laminate can usually no longer be separated, but neither can they be recycled together because they are too chemically different.
Fraunhofer ISC is working with three other Fraunhofer institutes on a new manufacturing process for polyolefin-based plastic films to replace film laminates that cannot be recycled. The core elements of the process are pure polyolefins or recyclates, special additives and physical and wet chemical post-treatment. This should enable the film properties to be adjusted just as precisely to the respective technical requirements as is the case with film laminates made from mixed plastic grades. However, by being limited to a single type of plastic, these films will be fully recyclable and enable a genuine material cycle, i.e. they can serve as raw materials for new packaging. With its materials expertise, the ISC ensures the necessary barrier effect of the new generation of films against oxygen and moisture.
While the recyclability of polyolefin-based plastic packaging aims to ensure that fossil resources are recycled with as little loss as possible, Fraunhofer ISC's developments for biogenic plastic packaging go one step further in the direction of the bioeconomy and the reduction of fossil resources.
Together with four partners from industry and research, Fraunhofer ISC is working on a new generation of film based on biogenic, readily available raw materials that meets all the usual requirements for food packaging. The starting point is biogenic plastic based on lactic acid (PLA). The basic material lactic acid is produced, for example, from residual materials in milk processing. The previous disadvantages of the PLA obtained from this, such as sensitivity to moisture, difficult processing and lack of recyclability, are to be eliminated by modifying the formulation and combining it with partly bio-based bioORMOCER®.
The pure biogenic films thus obtained are to have comparable technical properties to conventional - but in principle non-recyclable - film laminates for food packaging, but require less material and can be recycled. In this way, they should not only enable a resource-efficient circular economy, but also break the dependence on fossil raw materials. The research project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture as part of the "Renewable Resources" funding program.
On the road to more environmentally friendly cultivation methods, Fraunhofer ISC is working with research and industry partners from Germany, Finland and Norway on the development of sustainable mulch films for agriculture in the NewHyPe joint project, which is co-funded by the EU and BMBF.
Mulch films are used to extend the growing seasons - as in asparagus cultivation, for example, or to reduce undesirable weeds and thus pesticide use, but also to reduce evaporation and favorably influence the water balance of the soil. Petroleum-based plastic films are mostly used, which ultimately contribute to the formation of microplastics in the soil. Paper mulch films are not durable enough for most uses and also usually contain petroleum-based binders that pollute the soil. A more environmentally friendly substitute for the films used on a large scale must be extremely cost-effective and capable of being mass-produced.
Fraunhofer ISC and its partners in the NewHyPe project are focusing on the further development of proven technologies and inexpensive renewable raw materials. As a basis, paper is to be produced from functionalized nanocellulose and/or lignocellulose from the wood industry with a biodegradable and mineral oil-free binder on an inorganic-organic basis. This paper is expected to become stable enough in itself as a mulch film. For longer cultivation periods, the project team is also working on a cost-effective biodegradable functional coating that additionally stabilizes the paper. The Coating Development department at Fraunhofer ISC is coordinating the joint project and contributing its many years of expertise in the functionalization of nanocellulose or lignocellulose in combination with hybrid binders and the equipping of paper against moisture and other influences. Together with the partners, the aim is to create a cost-effective and sustainable replacement for the mulch films based on renewable raw materials that have been used to date, as part of the bioeconomy initiatives of the EU and the German government.
To this end, we want to work closely with partners from agriculture (producers) through to reuse/recycling.
Initially, higher-value applications for biogenic materials (refinement) will be developed. In the medium term, a circular bioeconomy is to be established. In long-term projects we are working on the use of modern methods (such as biochemistry) for revolutionary biobased technologies such as artificial photosynthesis.
Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research ISC