Grant: Alliance Grants

Around 50% of plastics are used for food packaging (1 million tons/year). Waste generated by plastics has been an urgent problem for many years because of their resistance to degradation. In addition, the production of conventional plastics consumes 65% more energy, and emits 30-80% higher greenhouse gases than bio-based polymers. It is also recognized that more than 30% of the total production of fruit and vegetable is lost. Finally, 66% of food losses are caused by faulty packaging. There is an urgent need to replace plastic packaging by biosourced biodegradable packaging film (BBPF). BBPF are degraded in the environment due to natural, physical, chemical, and biological processes (eg: fermentation) and they mimic the properties of conventional polymers. Until now, there is no commercial packaging system that meets 3 conditions: bio-based, biodegradable and bio-active. Bioactive BBPF containing natural antimicrobial extracts (NAEs) and silver nanoparticles represents a very innovative method to improve the food quality, protect them against microbial contamination, increase their storage time, reduce food losses while solving the end-of-life problem of food packaging. Bioactive BBPF can also improve the quality of the food. The goal of this project is to develop a bioactive BBPF incorporating (NAEs) and silver nanoparticles as antimicrobial and antioxidant agents with improved functional properties. In the 2020's, the global food and packaging markets have to be implemented into circular economy strategies via the management of resources. Moreover, consumer demands for healthier food and the use of BBPF and NAEs is an important societal criterion to promote such a partnership between university research laboratories and protagonist industries.