booklet abstrats and cvs-final

The 1 s t Conference o f COST Act ion FP 1003

Sustainable and Renewable Packaging Industrial Opportunities

17 May, Barcelona, Spain

COST Action FP 1003

Impact of renewable materials in packaging for sustainability - development of renewable fibre and bio-

based materials for new packaging applications

The 1st FP 1003 Conference Sustainable and Renewable Packaging

Industrial Opportunities

Host

Hispack, International Packaging Exhibition

Venue

Gran Via Exhibition Centre, Barcelona

Local Organiser

FUNDACION ITENE

Organising Committee

FP 1003-Steering Group

Editors

Elena Bobu Paul Obrocea

Producer and publisher

FUNDACION ITENE

5

Table of contents

Abstracts

About COST Action FP 1003 – BioMatPack .................................. 7

Kennert Johansson

Cationic nanofibrillated cellulose/clay composites for packaging

applications .................................................................................... 13

Ho, T. T. T., Zimmermann, T., Caseri, W. and Smith, P.

Biodegradable poly(vinyl alcohol)/clay nano-composites: competi-

tive adsorption of PVOH and plasticizers onto Na-bentonite. ...... 15

F Clegg, C Breen, Khairuddin

Health consequences of nanoparticles and migration of

nanoparticles from packaging to food ........................................... 18

Peter Šimon

Layer-by-layer coating for high oxygen barrier polylactide films

in food packaging applications ...................................................... 21

Anna J. Svagan, Jens Risbo and David V. Plackett

Functional coating based on chitosan derivatives for paper

applications .................................................................................... 24

Raluca Nicu, Mihail Lupei, Elena Bobu

Thermochromic inks - Functional graphic application for

sustainable packaging .................................................................... 27

Maja Jakovljević, Branka Lozo, Marta Klanjšek Gunde

Sustainability of paper products – quo vadis? .............................. 30

Günter Müller

6

Sustainability and end-of-life of new nano/bio packaging

developments .................................................................................. 31

Mercedes Hortal

Sustainability of nanocellulose bio-composites derived from

vegetable food waste ....................................................................... 34

Piccinno Fabiano, Som Claudia, Hischier Roland

The suitability of using recycled paper as a

direct food packaging ..................................................................... 36

Sonja Jamnicki, Branka Lozo, Vera Rutar, Lidija Barusic

Paper product footprint category rules –

measuring sustainability ................................................................ 39

Jori Ringman-Beck

SAICA Group - Sustainable Innovation ........................................ 41

Hans Helmrich

Industrial symbiosis in paper industry –

state-of-art and the way forward .................................................. 44

Jori Ringman-Beck

Authors ........................................................................................... 45

1st Conference BioMatPack - Abstracts

7

About COST Action FP 1003 – BioMatPack

Kennert Johansson, Action Chair

Innventia AB Stockholm, Sweden ([email protected])

BioMatPack: Impact of renewable materials in packaging for

sustainability – development of renewable fibre and bio-based materials for new packaging applications

Objectives:

◦The main objective of the Action is to enhance the knowledge concerning materials derived from the forest sector and thus identify

potential new renewable packaging solutions.

◦To build a database describing the performance of renewable

materials from the different sources.

◦To identify, assess and develop the potential to substitute current

materials by forest renewable alternatives by determining the

sustainability of the alternatives

◦To issue a set of guidelines explaining the different end-of life

technologies that are available for renewable packaging solutions.

◦To build an Industrial Testing Net Lab (ITNL) database which collects in one place the names and capabilities of European companies

that are willing to openly participate in the testing and validation of

new developments

◦Build technology roadmaps to direct future research

Action Structure:

Working Group 1- Material development: The focus will be to enhance the potential of renewable materials to replace the current, oil-derived

materials with renewable alternatives and more specifically to improve

knowledge regarding the use of forest/renewable materials in the

mailto:[email protected]


8

packaging value chain. This WG will also interrogate the interaction

between traditional paper and board industries and plastic related

industries (including other production methods) and seek to cooperate with and gain benefit from them. This will address the need for the

forest industry to build new relationships to take full advantage of a

packaging market based on renewable solutions. A primary focus is the

use of forest fibres as a key

Working Group 2 – Packaging value chain: The aim is to investigate,

determine and understand the extent to which renewable materials may

result in lower weight, fit-for-purpose packaging solutions with additional functionalities. WG2 investigates the micro market of the

packaging value chain including supply chain, consumers, packaging

fillers, brand owners and packaging suppliers. The research focus in

WG2 is aimed at understanding value chain efficiency and the possibility of increasing innovation by using renewable packaging.

The benefits arising from eco-design and its ability to overcome the

current deficiencies in renewable materials (e.g. the inherent brittleness) will be evaluated

Working Group 3 – End-of-life: The objective is to generate new

scientific knowledge regarding existing, emerging and embryonic end-of-life options for renewable materials. The direction in WG3 is

research into the performance of existing end-of-life technology in

relation to renewable materials in packaging and research focusing on

the potential development of new technology for end-of-life treatment.

Working Group 4 – Sustainability evaluation: The aim will be to

evaluate environmental assessment of the new processes/products,

economic assessment that encompasses the entire life cycle and critical evaluation of the impact on EU society at all levels, including research

areas and securing the supply market for renewable materials future

research areas and securing the supply market for renewable materials. WG4 covers the macro market of the packaging value chain and has a

stronger focus on society and national economics.

Working Group 5 – Knowledge transfer: The aim will be to coordinate

and lead all the activities associated with the sharing and transfer of knowledge. It will be responsible for the practical issues around the


9

organisation of common events (training courses, exchange visits,

conferences, workshops, etc) and for dissemination of the results

arising out of Action activities (website installation and maintenance, newsletter preparation and distribution, the development maintenance

and promotion of the ITNL, scientific publications database, etc.).

This work will be carried out in close cooperation with the

Management Committee, the Knowledge Exchange Committee (KEC) and the Editorial Board (EB).

Roadmap session in Warsaw on September 26, 2011

Main Achievements ◦ 20 countries signed up for the Action

◦ 87 active participants the first year of which 45% ESR

◦ 2 technical papers completed and two more in pipe-line ◦ 1 training school arranged

◦ 2 STSM completed

◦ 3 Roadmap sessions completed of which one with the forest industry ◦ 2 MC meetings

◦ Website set up

◦ 2 Newsletters


10

Renewable Raw Materials for Sustainable

Packaging

Gülden Yılmaz

Wageningen UR, Food and Biobased Research, Biobased Products Business Unit ([email protected])

Introduction

Packaging can be described as all materials, items and accessories used

to contain, store, sort, organize, protect, promote, or transport products

or substances. It is an absolute necessity especially in the modern world, with many demands placed upon issues such as safety,

convenience, efficiency, identification, and marketing. It is generally a

short cycle product and is used in combination with other products. Packaging adds value to the product; combination of environmental (in

preventing product spoilage), social and economic values and

evaluation of these values will be a sustainability measure for a certain packaging product.

With the outlook on potential growth of packaging materials market

around the world (1), packaging materials, methods to obtain

packaging, as well as processes, will demand more materials and energy not only in production phase but also in transportation, use and

recycling leading to environmental impact of in parallel growing

proportions.

Renewable raw materials for packaging applications

The substantial market growth potential for sustainable packaging

materials is likely to chance the way we look at demand for raw materials, how they are chosen, how much is processed and consumed

(2, 3). This is due to the direct and indirect link of raw materials to

overall sustainability, energy efficiency and especially security of supply. Security of supply of materials is among the most important

factors driving sustainable packaging. Packaging applications will


11

continue to grow as protection of products and avoiding spoilage is a

very important issue from the sustainability point of view, primarily in

terms of material, energy and cost savings. When current packaging materials are considered; fibre based packaging and plastics are among

the most commonly used packaging materials.

With regards to plastics, although plastics only account for the 4 % of

crude oil usage, it is a growing application. Looking at the fast

economical developments in the developing countries, the consumption of plastics will increase substantially. This means that oil

independent renewable character of materials used for packaging will

be increasingly important in decision-making and implementation of new solutions.

With regards to fibre based, paper and board packaging, it counts for

around 35-40% of the global packaging market corresponding with the

40% of the paper and board production (4). Just like the plastics consumption similar trends and future forecasts will be seen with fibre

based packaging as well. Increased demand and focus on fibre raw

materials will be a natural outcome as a function of growing consumption and growing interest in renewable raw materials for

packaging applications.

Similarly, biobased plastic based packaging is also in the focus when sustainable packaging solutions are considered (5, 6). Furthermore,

combinations of fibre resources and bioplastics are worth mentioning,

either aiming at improved biopolymer based packaging materials

reinforced utilizing natural fibres as well as coatings or laminates to improve fibre based packaging materials (7, 8).

Conclusions

While environmental benefits can be obvious for example of reduced waste, resource conservation, energy efficiency, it will not be enough

alone and that considerations on security of supply, economic and

social benefits in its broadest sense will be determining the

applicability and implementation. Therefore the applicability of a


12

sustainable packaging solution system will depend on the benefits

achievable through its application.

Suitable strategies need to allow the consideration of the specific product to be packed, its life cycle and related supply chain,

acknowledging that there is no single, correct definition of sustainable

packaging and that it needs to be considered as part of a complete

product life cycle.

Materials perspective is and will remain a very important aspect in

achieving these benefits that can be obtained by implementation of

sustainable packaging solutions with a focus on suitable management of renewable and biobased raw materials to begin with.

References

1. Pike research report on sustainable packaging. Retrieved from: http://www.pikeresearch.com/research/sustainable-packaging

2. WECD (World Commission on Environment and Development) (1987). ‘Our Common Future’, Oxford, England: Oxford University

Press

3. Hall, J. (2002), ‘Sustainable Development Innovation: A research

Agenda for The Next 10 years’, Journal of Cleaner Production, 10: 195-196

4. CEPI. ‘Facts and figures’, Retrieved from http://www.cepi.org

5. Steinbuchel, A. (2003), ‘Biopolymers’, In General Aspects and Special Applications, vol.10, Wiley-VCH: Weinheim, 516 pp.

6. Tharanathan, R. N. (2003), ‘Review e biodegradable films and composite coatings: past, present and future’, Trends in Food Science

& Technology, 14, 71pp.

7. Yilmaz, G. (2006), ’Composite films: Advances and Future Outlook for Sustainable Packaging’ In Second Sustainpack conference.

8. Oever, M. J. A.; Sanches, G. P.; Yilmaz, G. (2009), ‘Cellulosic Nanofibre Composites’ In Renewable resources: obtaining, processing; Kozlowski R; Zaikov, G. and Pudel F. Eds., Noval Publishers Inc.

191pp.


13

Cationic nanofibrillated cellulose/clay composites

for packaging applications

Ho, T. T. T.1, Zimmermann, T.

1, Caseri, W.

2 and Smith, P.

2

1Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and

Technology, Switzerland ([email protected])

2 Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Institute for Polymer

Switzerland

Nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) has some specific characters such as

high grade of homogeneity, higher tensile strength and modulus,

higher aspect ratio, higher reactive surface, etc. compared to cellulose fibres. Hence, it can create a homogeneous network and can act as a

matrix in composites. Layered silicates (LS) can improve the

impermeability of materials.

Figure 1: SEM images of dried suspensions of NFC/layered silicates

diluted to 0.05 wt% followed by evaporation of the water. Insets:

images at higher magnification for further observations of interactions

between cellulose fibrils and silicate layers.

In the envisaged project we aimed to develop an eco-friendly

composite from trimethylammonium-modified nanofibrillated



14

cellulose (TMA-NFC) and LS which has good barrier as well as

mechanical properties for possible application in food packaging.

Therefore, TMA-NFC/LS composites were prepared by high-shear homogenization followed by pressure filtration and vacuum hot-

pressing. 13 different clays and micas were employed. Barrier

properties (against water vapour, oxygen) and mechanical properties

(tensile strength, E-modulus, strain at break) of the composite films were investigated under consideration of the effects of layered silicate

types and their concentration.

Good interactions between cationic NFC and anionic silicate layers as well as a multi-layered structure of TMA-NFC/LS composite films

were achieved. Among the layered silicates tested, one type provided

at a specific loading in composites the most satisfactory results with

regards to water vapour barrier properties, tensile strength and E-modulus, remarkably when compared to the commercially used base

paper.

Acknowledgements

We kindly acknowledge the Commission for Technology and

Innovation (CTI) for financial support. We thank the colleagues from

Laboratory for Applied Wood Materials, EMPA and Institute for Polymer, ETH for their advices and support.

References

1. Ho, T. T. T., Zimmermann, T., Hauert, R., Caseri, W. (2011)

Preparation and characterization of cationic nanofibrillated cellulose

from etherification and high-shear disintegration processes. Cellulose

18(6):1391-1406

2. Ho, T.T.T., Ko, Y. S., Zimmermann, T., Geiger, T., Caseri, W. R. (2012), Processing and characterisation of nanofibrillated cellulose/

layered silicate systems. Journal of Materials Science 47:4370-4382

3. Ho, T.T.T., Zimmermann, T., Ohr, S., Caseri, W. (2012). Composites of cationic nanofibrillated cellulose and layered silicates:

Mechanical and barrier properties. In preparation


15

Biodegradable poly(vinyl alcohol)/clay nano-

composites: competitive adsorption of PVOH and

plasticizers onto Na-bentonite.

F. Clegg1, C. Breen

1, Khairuddin

1, 2

1Materials and Engineering Research Institute, Sheffield Hallam

University, Howard Street, Sheffield, UK ([email protected])

2Physics Department, Sebelas Maret University, Indonesia

Clay-polymer nanocomposites are being investigated for use as

packaging materials since they offer a unique property profile, which

encompasses improved barrier and mechanical properties.

Recent activity within two EU-funded projects, SUSTAINPACK and

FLEXPAKRENEW, relating to sustainable packaging and based on

commercially-sourced bentonites dispersed in starch and plasticizer formulations has demonstrated improved barrier properties when

coated on paper and board. Laboratory based coatings routinely

presented water vapour barrier transmission rates (WVTR) as low as

20 g m-2

day-1

(at 23 °C and 50% RH). These values represent a large reduction from the paper alone at 780 g m

-2 day

-1 and a starch coated

paper at ~300 g m-2

day-1

and are reproducible when using selected

combinations of different starches, clays and plasticizers, however,

their absolute values can change dramatically if the correct combinations of clay and plasticizer within the starch are not used.

The plasticizer not only helps to make the barrier coating more

flexible, but also helps to optimise the clay dispersion. The clays can

also act as compatibiliser between the starch and plasticizer aiding the formation of coherent coatings.

During the study, it became apparent that the distribution of starch and

plasticizer in the interlayer of the clay, resulting in part from their competitive adsorption, could be playing a crucial role in establishing

the barrier properties of the coatings. Difficulties in distinguishing

whether they were located in the clay interlayer led to this study, which



16

used PVOH as a model hydroxylated polymer. PVOH has similar

properties to starch in that they are highly polar, require heating to

become water soluble and are semi-crystalline. Earlier work at Sheffield (1) and the work of Strawhecker and Manias (2) had shown

that PVOH exhibited a range of basal spacings depending upon the

quantity of the PVOH offered to the clay. Also, quite importantly, at

PVOH loadings above 35 wt% diffraction data showed that PVOH expanded the clay more than starch or plasticizers. Consequently, if

the plasticizer was preferred over PVOH in this concentration range

then some ordering of the system would likely be observed.

A wide experimental matrix covering different clay-polymer-

plasticizer compositions and their sequence of mixing have been

investigated. Several plasticizers were investigated, but herein

polyethylene glycol with a MW of 600 (PEG600) will be discussed.

The adsorption isotherms of PVOH and/or PEG600 onto Cloisite Na+

were obtained by using a calibrated thermogravimetric method to

determine the amounts remaining in the supernatant after contact with the clay. X-ray diffraction (XRD) traces were collected from

composites prepared from aqueous suspensions before centrifugation

(BC) and from the sediment obtained after centrifugation (AC) in order to identify whether the polymer or plasticizer was located in the clay

interlayer or solution.

XRD showed that PVOH or PEG600 entered the clay gallery and

interlayer spacing expanded in a stepwise manner as their concentration increased, i.e. a single layer of either PVOH or PEG600

molecules existed before a bilayer structure was formed. Further

incremental additions of PVOH resulted in multiple layers being formed (Figure 1) and above 90 wt% loading very well dispersed, if

not exfoliated, clay was present. Further additions of PEG600, above

20 wt%, resulted in no extra expansion of the interlayer.

Adsorption studies showed that above a loading of 25 wt% PVOH,

which coincided with the formation of a fully loaded bi-layer structure,

the amount present in the supernatant began to significantly increase

(Figure 2). At this point when full surface coverage of the clay by PVOH is envisaged, i.e. PVOH molecules covering both sides of a


17

single clay layer, the additional PVOH preferred to remain in solution

rather than be associated with the PVOH already on the clay.

Comparison of XRD traces from samples prepared from the suspension or sediment before or after centrifugation, respectively,

showed that some of the PVOH in solution migrates into the gallery

when dried as indicated by increases in the respective d-spacings.

0102030405060708090

100

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

PV

OH

ad

sorb

ed

on

cla

y (w

t%)

PVOH offered to clay (wt%)

PVOH free

PVOH adsorbed

PVOH Offered

Figure 1: PVOH-Clay composites Figure 2: PVOH-Clay Adsorption

For the competitive adsorption studies the PVOH was found to have a

higher affinity to the clay since less plasticizer was adsorbed when the

concentration of PVOH was increased. In addition, PEG600 was not able to restrict the interlayer spacing to that of a bilayer PEG structure

because PVOH was also adsorbed into the clay interlayer.

The relative amounts of polymer and/or plasticizer used or adsorbed onto the clay not only affect the barrier properties of the film, but also

their physical properties, e.g. flexibility and modulus. WVTR data has

shown that barrier properties significantly increase when clay is incorporated, for example with 10 wt% clay the WVTR decreased

from 300 to 125 g m-2

day-1

by approximately (at 23 °C and 85%

relative humidity). In the presence of 20 wt% PEG600 the WVTR

increased to 1300 g m-2

day-1

, but the barrier properties could be improved over that of the pure polymer by the addition of 25 wt% clay.

References: 1. L Doeppers, PhD thesis, Sheffield Hallam University, 2004. 2. K E Strawhecker and E Manias, Chemistry of Materials, 2000, 12,

2943-2949.


18

Health consequences of nanoparticles and migration

of nanoparticles from packaging to food

Peter Šimon

Institute of Physical Chemistry and Chemical Physics, Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology, Slovak University of Technology,

Slovakia ([email protected])

Introduction

Nanoscaled materials have one or more dimensions of the order of 100

nm or less. Nanomaterials (NMs) are utilized for a number of

application areas, such as electronic components, clothes, paints, house-cleaning products, varnishes, environmental remediation

technology, energy capture and storage technology, military

technology etc. They are applied also in medical and cosmetic products

as well as for agriculture and food.

Since NMs are applied worldwide, their safety, implications on human

and environmental health and potential risks are under discussion

where current opinions range from “completely harmless and safe” to “extremely hazardous”. The conflicting results in the literature about

the nanotoxicity are due to the lack of standardized physicochemical

characterisation of the different types of nanoparticles (NPs) and even different batches of the same engineered nanoparticle. Complete

information on relevant physicochemical properties of engineered NPs

is essential for proper risk assessment. Hence, aim of this paper is to

summarize the known physicochemical properties of biopersistent NPs that might accumulate in the living body, to review analytical tools for

the detection of nanoparticles and to assess the migration of

nanoparticles from packaging to food (1, 2).

General properties of nanoparticles

Our deductions (1) indicate that NMs have a unique ability to interact

with all biopolymers, particularly with proteins. The deductions



19

underline the catalytic activity of the NPs primarily in oxidation

reactions. These reactions may lead to the formation of reactive oxygen

species and to the oxidation stress. However, other catalyzed reaction paths should also be considered. The item not considered up to now is

the ability of NPs to act as nuclei or germs in the induced

heterogeneous crystallization is also indicated.

The three principal organs exposed to (NPs) are the lungs, the skin and the digestive system. Considering the latter case, NPs enter the

digestive system contained mainly in food. A striking observation is

that nanotechnologies are being used throughout all phases of food production. There remain many unknown details about the interaction

of nanoparticles with biological systems. On exposure to tissues and

fluids of the body, nanoparticles will immediately adsorb onto their

surface some of the macromolecules that they encounter at their portal of entry. It is obvious that the effects of nanoparticles will depend on

the number and size of NPs present in the matrix (1).

Analytical tools for the detection of nanoparticles

A number of analytical tools exist for the characterisation of pristine

nanomaterials, both the single-particle techniques and the techniques

characterizing the ensemble of nanoparticles. The technology is still in rapid development. There is no ‘best’ technique for ‘all’ situations and

combination of techniques is usually necessary. Properties of NPs may

depend on the surrounding matrix. Harmonisation and standardisation of the methods is needed.

Some of the analytical methods can be used to trace and detect NPs in

more or less complex matrices, like water/electrolytes and organisms/tissues. But the detection and quantification of NPs in

complex matrices is only possible in very special cases. This is both

because of the size of NPs that makes single particles constitute

infinitely small amounts of chemicals that require extremely low detection limits, but also due to interactions with solutes or cell

constituents that obscure clear analytical signals. The lack of tools to

detect and quantify NPs is a major constraint to describe mobility, exposure, uptake, metabolism and risks associated with the use of NPs.


20

Hence, development of analytical devices for determination of

nanoparticles in complex matrices is urgently needed (1).

Migration of nanoparticles from packaging to food

A contributing factor to the rapid commercial developments in

nanocomposite based food packaging materials is the expectation that,

due to the fixed or embedded nature of NPs in plastic polymers, they will not pose any significant risk to the consumer. However,

experimental data on migration of NPs has so far been lacking.

Assessment of the migration of NPs from polymer packaging to food,

taking into account the physicochemical properties of both the NPs and the packaging materials, was presented in (2). The results indicate that

the migration of NPs from packaging to food will be detected mainly in

the case of very small NPs with the radius in the order of magnitude of 1 nm from the polymer matrices that have a relatively low dynamic

viscosity, and that do not interact with the NPs. These conditions could

be met in the case of nanocomposites of silver with polyolefines (LDPE, HDPE, PP). For bigger NPs that are bound in polymer matrices with

relatively high dynamic viscosity, the migration will not be detectable.

This corresponds to nanosilver composites with PET and PS, and

surface-modified montmorillonite embedded in various polymer matrices (2).

References

1. Šimon P. & Joner E., Journal of Food and Nutrition Research 47

(2008) 51-59: Conceivable interactions of biopersistent nanoparticles

with food matrix and living systems following from their

physicochemical properties.

2. Šimon P., Chaudhry Q. & Bakoš D., Journal of Food and Nutrition

Research 47 (2008) 105-113: Migration of engineered nanoparticles

from polymer packaging to food – a physicochemical view.


21

Layer-by-layer coating for high oxygen barrier

polylactide films in food packaging applications

Anna J. Svagan1, Jens Risbo

1 and David V. Plackett

2 1Department of Food Science, University of Copenhagen,

Frederiksberg, Denmark

2Department of Chemical Engineering, Technical University of

Denmark, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark

Background

There is considerable interest in polylactide (PLA) for packaging of

food products. However, there are a number of hurdles to be overcome before PLA can be more widely adopted as an alternative to traditional

petroleum-based plastics. For example, to compete with polyethylene

terephthalate (PET) in packaging of oxygen-sensitive foods (e.g.,

meat), the oxygen permeability of PLA should be reduced by ~10. One way to reduce oxygen permeability (OP) in polymer films is through

use of polymer-montmorillonite (MMT) clay mixtures; however,

research shows that 50-60% reduction in OP is about the maximum that can be achieved by this approach. Therefore, as an alternative, we

examined a layer-by-layer (LBL) coating method. LBL has previously

been used to assemble clay-based nanocomposites (1-3) and Grunlan et al. used this method to improve the oxygen barrier properties of PET

film (4, 5). The goal of the research described here was therefore to

evaluate the properties of a selected LBL coating system and to

determine whether the ten-fold reduction in oxygen permeability required for PLA films in meat packaging was possible (6).

Objectives

The objectives of the research were to investigate the sequential application of homogenized MMT suspensions and aqueous acetic acid

solutions of chitosan to PLA films, to monitor the process using a

quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D) and to


22

determine the gas barrier and light transmission properties of the LBL-

coated films.

Results

Results from the QCM-D work illustrated the mass changes occurring

with each layer of MMT or chitosan which was deposited. The

reduction in oxygen permeability, measured at various relative humidities (Figure 1) confirmed that the target ten-fold reduction was

achievable. At the same time, light transmission was not significantly

compromised relative to uncoated PLA film (Figure 2).

Figure 1: Oxygen permeability of PLA films as a function of applied MMT-chitosan bilayers

Conclusions

LBL application of chitosan and MMT clay to PLA films resulted in a significant decrease in oxygen permeability measured at different

relative humidity, while the high optical clarity of the films was

maintained. In order for LBL coating to be used in applications such as thermoformed trays for meat packaging, water vapour barrier

properties would now need to be introduced and thermoformability

demonstrated.


23

Figure 2: Light transmission of PLA films as a function of

applied MMT-chitosan bilayers

Acknowledgments: The research described in this presentation was

undertaken in collaboration with Anna Åkesson and Marité Cárdenas from the Department of Chemistry and Nano Science Center,

University of Copenhagen (KU), Jes Knudsen from the Department of

Food Science at KU, and Sanja Bulut from DTU Nanotech. Their

contributions are gratefully acknowledged.

References

1. Podsiadlo, P., Kaushik, A.K., Arruda, E.M., Waas, A.M., Shim, B.S., Xu, J.D., Nandivada, H., Pumplin, B.G., Lahann, J.,

Ramamoorthy, A., Kotov, N.A. (2007), Science, 318, 80-83

2. Podsiadlo, P., Tang, Z.Y., Shim, B.S., Kotov, N.A. (2007), Nano

Letters, 7, 1224-1231 3. Decher, G. (1997), Science, 277, 1232-1237

4. Priolo, M.A., Gamboa, D., Grunlan, J.C.2010), ACS Applied

Materials and Interfaces, 2, 312-320. 5. Priolo, M.A., Gamboa, D., Holder, K.M., Grunlan, J.C. (2010),

Nano Letters, 10, 4970-4974.

6. Svagan, A.J., Åkesson, A., Cárdenas, M., Bulut, S., Knudsen, J.C.,

Risbo, J., Plackett, D. (2012), Biomacromolecules, 13, 397-405.


24

Functional coating based on chitosan derivatives for

paper applications

Raluca Nicu, Mihail Lupei, Elena Bobu

“Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University of Iasi, Romania,

Department of Natural and Synthetic polymers ([email protected])

Background

Currently, the coating formulas to improve barrier properties of paper

and board used in food packaging are mainly based on synthetic

polymers. Among the disadvantages of these treatments are the

reduction of recycling potential, lowering of the biodegradability and limitation of packaging use in contact with foods (1). For this reason,

many researches in the field are concerning the substitution of

synthetic polymers with biopolymers originated from naturally renewable resources such as polysaccharides, proteins and lipids.

Chitosan is single natural bio-polymer with cationic charge, which has

good film forming properties that make it very interesting as a coating material in packaging applications (2). Main limitation in papermaking

application of the chitosan is its lack of water solubility. However, the

modification of chitosan by chemical reactions such as alkylation,

quarterisation, carboxymethylation, provides water soluble derivatives with various functionalities and specific application in many fields (3).

Study objectives were the synthesis and characterization of water

soluble alkyl-chitosan derivatives and their evaluation as paper coating materials for barrier properties development.

Research tasks: Alkyl-chitosan derivatives were synthesized by

reductive amination reaction, which allowed us to introduce

selectively alkyl substituent at the amino groups. Three chitosan

derivatives with different lengths of alkyl chain (ACh8, ACh10 and

ACh12) were synthesized. Each alkyl-chitosan was obtained at two

different substitution degrees by varying the ratio between glucose-

amine unit and aldehyde. The alkyl chitosan derivatives were evaluated



25

in two coating formulas, one consisting only from polymer solution in

water and other with calcium carbonate addition. Barrier properties of

paper coated sheets were evaluated by the air permeability, water absorption capacity and contact angle against water, diiodomethane

and ethylene glycol.

Summary of results

Chitosan modifications were confirmed by infrared spectroscopy,

namely by some characteristic adsorption bands which suggest that the

substitution has occurred at chitosan amino groups. Infrared

spectroscopy provided also the data for substitution degree (DS) calculation of each alkyl-derivative.

The results of coating application have shown that the alkyl-chitosan

films enhance the barrier properties of paper, the effect being is depending on the alkyl chain and substitution degree of chitosan

derivative. The contact angle measurements (Figure 1) demonstrate

the alkyl chain has a positive effect on surface barrier against different liquids; i.e. the contact angle against water increase between 44-72%

with alkyl-derivatives compared with unmodified chitosan.

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

Ch ACh8.1 ACh8.2 ACh10.1 ACh10.2 ACh12.1 ACh12.2

Co

nta

ct

an

gle

Water Diiodomethane Ethylene glycol

Figure 1: Influence of alkyl chain length and substitution degree

on contact angle, measured against different liquids

The calcium carbonate particles in coating formulas contributes to the

decreasing of water absorption index (Figure 2) and air permeability,

suggesting that this particles, beside of surface pores closure, are


26

functioning synergetic with chitosan derivatives in complementing

paper barrier properties.

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Co

bb

60, g

/m2

wo. add. Ch ACh8.1 ACh8.2 ACh10.1 ACh10.2 ACh12.1 ACh12.2

Polymer+CaCO3 formula

Polymer formula

Figure 2: Influence of coating formulas on water absorption capacity

Conclusion: Deeper investigations of coating film structure and properties are necessary in order to understand and explain the

behaviour of chitosan derivatives as coating materials for barrier

properties development. However, the results obtained in this study are very promising and represent a starting point in developing other

chitosan derivatives and paper coating formula.

Acknowledgement: This paper was supported by the project PERFORM-ERA "Postdoctoral Performance for Integration in the

European Research Area" (ID-57649) financed by the European Social

Found and the Romanian Government.

References

1. Khwaldia, K., Arab-Tehrany, E., Desobry, S. (2010), Biopolymer

coatings on paper packaging materials, Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety 9, (1), 82–91

2. Kittur, F., S., Kumar, K.R., Tharanathan, R.N. (1998), Functional packaging properties of chitosan films, Z Lebensm Unters Forsh A

206, 44-47

3. Sashiwa, H., Aiba, S. (2004), Chemically modified chitin and chitosan as biomaterials, Prog. Polym. Sci. 29, 887-903


27

Thermochromic inks - Functional graphic

application for sustainable packaging

Maja Jakovljević1, Branka Lozo

1, Marta Klanjšek Gunde

2

1Faculty of Graphic Arts, University of Zagreb, Croatia

([email protected])

2National Institute of Chemistry, Slovenia

Thermochromic inks are one of the major groups of colour-changing

inks. The colour change in thermochromic inks is caused by exposure

to different temperature. Inks that change colour under certain circumstances are finding increasing use in applications such as

security printing, brand protection or smart packaging (1). With

thermochromic inks application, packaging can give the consumers

more information about the product and it can be considered to have added value (3). Thermochromic inks can be used on packaging as

temperature indicators, but also as freshness indicators (4). By giving

additional product information, this kind of packaging could provide les costs in transportation and storage and control the shelf life of a

product. Considering this, smart packaging applications are not only

functional, but also sustainable (5).

The two types of thermochromic inks are leuco dyes and liquid

crystals. Thermochromic inks can be manufactured to be irreversible or

reversible, and also with various activation temperatures. In CIELAB

colour space colorimetric calculations for this kind of inks can be done. Reversible thermochromic samples lose their colour during heating and

regain it during cooling. However, the trajectory obtained by heating is

not completely equal to that obtained by cooling (Figure 1).

Opposite of this, irreversible thermochromic samples change from one

colour to another leaving a permanent indication of a temperature

change (Figure 2) (1).

Thermochromic inks have high level of application, for example in smart packaging applications such as heat-sensitive pharmaceuticals or


28

frozen food (2, 4). Although their functionality is unquestionable, there

are many aspects that yet need to be considered, like environmental

impact.

Figure 1 (1): Changing of CIELAB values of a reversible

thermochromic sample in (a*,b*) plane at heating (solid signs) and

cooling (open signs)

Figure 2 (1): Changing of CIELAB values of irreversible yellow-to-red TC sample in (a*,b*) plane at heating


29

References

1. Kulčar R., Klanjšek Gunde M., Friškovec M. (2010)

„Thermochromic inks – dynamic colour possibilities“, The Create

2010 Conference, Proceedings-Colour Coded

2. Seeboth A. and Lötzsch D. (2008) „Thermochromic Phenomena in Polymers“, Shawbury: Smithers Rapra Technology

3. Kulčar R., Friškovec M., Hauptman N., Vesel A., Klanjšek Gunde M. (2010) „Colorimetric properties of reversible thermochromic

printing inks“, Dyes and Pigments, Vol.86 (No 3), 271-277

4. Christie R.M., Bryant D. (2005) „An evaluation of thermochromic prints based on microencapsulated liquid crystals using variable

temperature colour measurement“, Coloration technology, Vol.121 (Issue 4), 187–192

5. Brody A.L., Bugusu B., Han J.H., Koelsch Sand C., Mchugh T.H (2008) „Innovative Food Packaging Solutions“, Journal of Food

Science, Vol. 73 (Issue 8), 107–116

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cte.2005.121.issue-4/issuetoc

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cte.2005.121.issue-4/issuetoc


30

Sustainability of paper products – quo vadis?

Günter Müller

Papiertechnische Stiftung (PTS), Munich, Germany ([email protected])

Sustainability has evolved into a fundamental principle of European politics. The sustainability approach is more and more being integrated

into corporate business models, thus developing into a strong

competitive factor on the market. A key factor in these developments

was cross-sector challenges such as climate warming, resource depletion and increasing environmental awareness on the part of

society. Therefore, positioning in the field of sustainability is

becoming more and more important for companies in virtually all sectors. This holds especially true for the paper industry as a resource-

and energy-intensive branch with a variety of different impacts on the

environment. Here, the responsible use of raw materials such as fibres,

energy and water as well as the evaluation of the impacts of products and processes on the environment and consumers is gaining ever

greater significance within the framework of product development. The

interest in sustainable and environmentally friendly paper products is great and constantly rising. This is reflected especially by the growing

demand for certificates, labels or footprints of products. This in turn is

significantly influencing corporate environmental behaviour throughout the entire added value chain and is culminating in new or

optimised product and process solutions.

The presentation addresses these developments and explains the

importance of sustainability for the added value chain on the basis of current challenges. Important sustainability indicators for companies in

the paper sector will be presented. The future importance of evaluation

and communications instruments will be discussed, and corporate issues and trends relating to the subject of sustainability will be

expanded upon. Last but not least, recommendations will be given for

the practical implementation of sustainability issues.


31

Sustainability and end-of-life of new nano/bio

packaging developments

Mercedes Hortal

Packaging, Transport and Logistics Research Center (ITENE),

Valencia, Spain ([email protected])

Background

Over the last years, bio and nanomaterials have been developed since

they are a promising opportunity that can be used in a broad range of applications. Huge research in relation with a better development and

identification of potential applications is being carried out. Besides,

this early stage is a good opportunity to incorporate adequate criteria, to ensure future applications sustainability.

Objectives

This presentation highlights critical points that require further improvements to really demonstrate that these materials, with huge

perspective and expectative, are sustainable.

Results

Sustainability has to be integrated from the early design step as in conventional materials. It covers a triple approach from environmental

impact, life cycle costs analysis and consumers acceptance. Moreover a

major challenge is to give these future materials suitable end-of-life treatment to maximize benefit. In addition, the use of these materials

must fit with functional requirements achieved by conventional

materials for packaging, giving an added value.

Biomaterials are expected to reduce non-renewable resources

dependency and to divert waste disposal from landfills, whereas

nanomaterials are claimed to improve energy and material efficiency as


32

well as usability. However, there are still few studies which deal with

the comprehensive analysis of their sustainability.

Regarding the life cycle assessment (LCA) analysis already published, some limitations have been pointed out such as the lack of available

inventory data mainly due to research and commercial interests and the

continuous new developments that do not enable long-term testing of

their behaviour.

Sustainability also involves costs. Thus, the costs through the life cycle

of bio and nanomaterials should be competitive compared to the

conventional ones. Bioplastics may contribute, if production costs are optimized, to reduce costs since they do not have to face up to the

rising costs of petroleum and its fluctuations. On the other hand,

nanomaterials used in packaging applications are usually advantageous

if weight reduction offsets the higher production costs required.

The increasing use of bio and nanomaterials in packaging has raised

consumers concerns about safety and human health. The lack of data

related to the adverse effects on human health and the potential toxicity of nanomaterials is one of the main problems for a broad acceptance.

This limitation should be considered when assessing composites with

bio-based materials and nanoparticles.

Many LCA studies of both materials omit the end-of-life treatment

phase because of lack of consistent data. This is the reason why

approximate models are used when considering this stage.

Biodegradable biomaterials are suitable for a large variety of waste treatment options, whereas nanomaterials studies mostly assume an

incineration scenario.

Conclusions

These promising materials must assess the integrated concept of

sustainability, which still has to tackle many challenges for bio and

nanomaterials used in packaging. Functional criteria must also be included.

Firstly, as concerns environmental impact, database must be updated

with accurate data specific to these new materials.


33

Then, production costs need to be optimized in order to reach more

competitive materials.

Any adverse effects of nanoparticles, for instance in nano bio-composites, must be assessed to ensure safety and human health and

thus consumer’s acceptance. An objective is to make consumer aware

and to educate them.

Finally, new infrastructures and polices are required to address the issues surrounding the sustainability of these materials.

As regards their end-of-life, these new materials must be correctly

integrated into current end-of-life management systems. Available options still require further developments. Suitable collection methods,

sorting technologies and efficient labelling must be implemented to

ensure high quality


34

Sustainability of nanocellulose bio-composites

derived from vegetable food waste

Piccinno Fabiano, Som Claudia, Hischier Roland

Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Switzerland ([email protected])

The demand for advanced materials in high-performance applications has rapidly increased over past decades. At present, there are no real

alternatives to glass and carbon fibre reinforced plastics (GFRP and

CFRP) in terms of their lightweight, high mechanical strength/stiffness ratio, toughness, high chemical resistance and many other properties.

However, since the end of the last century, in terms of the next

generation of materials, it has been recognised globally that fibre

reinforced synthetic polymers suffer from three fundamental flaws inherited from their components. Synthetic polymers reinforced with

man-made fibres are made of non-renewable (essentially oil based)

components, manufactured through environmentally non-friendly processes consuming high amounts of energy and not degradable,

easily disposable or recyclable.

NanoCelluComp is a FP7 project with the overall aim to develop a technology to utilise the high mechanical performance of cellulose

nanofibres, obtained from food processing waste streams, combined

with bio-derived matrix materials, for the manufacture of 100% bio-

derived high performance composite materials that will replace randomly oriented and unidirectional glass, carbon fibre and other

natural fibre reinforced plastics in a range of applications.

The use of such a bio-derived nanocellulose composite in packaging applications is assessed from an ecological point of view by using Life

Cycle Assessment (LCA) and comparing it to existing materials. One

main advantage of using LCA as a method is that the whole life cycle

(production, use and end-of-life) from cradle to grave is taken into consideration. It has been shown that other product life stages than

production can affect the results considerably, especially in an



35

application as packaging material where transport plays a crucial role

in the use phase. Since the cellulose nanofibres derive from food

processing waste streams, they have - compared to other natural fibres - the advantages that no land is taken away from food production and

excludes the environmental burdens caused by agronomic production.

However, even if the production of cellulose nanofibres derived from

food processing waste streams has many ecological advantages, one has to take a closer look from a life cycle assessment perspective. By

doing so, the biodegradable nature of the bio-composite material, for

example, has advantages and disadvantages. Thus, in the presentation different examples of the nanocellulose bio-composite used in

packaging applications such as a biofoam to replace polystyrene, a

reinforced polymer film for food packaging and a high performance

material for shipping containers are discussed from an ecological perspective.


36

The suitability of using recycled paper as a direct

food packaging

Sonja Jamnicki1, Branka Lozo

1, Vera Rutar

2, Lidija Barusic

3

1University of Zagreb, Faculty of Graphic Arts, Zagreb, Croatia

([email protected]) 2Pulp and Paper Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia

3 “Dr. Andrija Stampar” Institute of Public Health, Zagreb, Croatia

The suitability of recycled paper packaging materials for direct food

contact applications was a major area of investigation. The evaluation

of food contact suitability was conducted on selected classes of recycled paper and board that were produced either industrially or in

laboratory conditions. First group of recycled papers that were

analyzed on food contact suitability, were two commercially produced papers - the white top testliner and the fluting paper. Furthermore, they

were also submitted to a laboratory deinking flotation in order to

evaluate possible decrease in the amount of chemical contaminants in

the deinked pulp after the deinking flotation had been conducted.

Second group of samples consisted of recovered paper and board

grades prepared in laboratory conditions. A sample consisting of mixed

paper and board was prepared by mixing printed old newspapers (ONP), printed old magazines (OMG), offset printed cardboard (full

color - CMYK) and offset printed wood free paper (black printed

only). The selected prints were mixed with equal proportions of dry

fibrous material. The mixed prints were then submitted to a laboratory deinking flotation and handsheets that were formed from the deinked

pulp were afterwards analyzed on the food contact suitability. The last

sample consisted of white unprinted newsprint and magazine paper that were mixed with equal proportions of dry fibrous matter. The papers

were disintegrated in a tap water without addition of any chemicals.

The handsheets that were formed after the disintegration of the papers were analyzed on food contact suitability, together with the originals,

unprinted newsprint and magazine paper, as well.



37

Food contact suitability analyses comprised the determination of heavy

metals (Cd, Pb, and Hg), primary aromatic amines,

diisopropylnaphthalenes (DIPNs), phthalates and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from aqueous or organic solvent extracts of paper

samples. The results of analyses were compared to the quantitative

restrictions laid down in the German BfR Recommendations (chapter

XXXVI) and/or Croatian Ordinance on sanitary safety of materials and articles intended to come into direct contact with foodstuffs. However,

in case when the German or Croatian regulations did not specify clear

limits for tested compounds, the results obtained by chemical analyses were compared to proposed restrictions laid down in the Nordic report

on paper and board food contact materials, a guideline document

developed by the Nordic Council of Ministers.

Food contact analyses that were conducted on selected classes of recycled paper and board showed that the most common contaminants

present in the packaging paper grades are diisopropylnaphthalenes

(DIPNs) and phthalates (Table 1). In these materials, phthalates and DIPNs were detected at concentrations at up to 15 mg/kg. On the other

hand, other evaluated contaminants such as heavy metals (Cd, Pb and

Hg), primary aromatic amines, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) were found at extremely low concentrations.

Moreover, the conducted deinking flotation on the white testliner and

fluting sample had a positive effect on the reduction of DIPNs and

phthalates from the deinked pulp.

However, when comparing the detected amounts of DIPNs and

phthalates in the analyzed papers to the quantitative restrictions laid

down in the Nordic report on paper and board food contact materials (Table 2), it can be seen that all the detected concentrations are much

below the Nordic guideline proposed limits. It can therefore be

concluded that all tested papers regarding the analyses done within this research are found suitable to be used in direct contact with foods.

Nevertheless, additional analyses, such as the migration of mineral oils

from recycled fibre materials, must be conducted to further confirm

their suitability for direct food contact.


38

Table 1: DIPN content and total phthalate content in solvent extracts

of papers (DP – deinked pulp, P&B – paper and board)

Sample DIPN

(mg/kg paper) Total phthalate

(mg/kg paper)

White testliner 14.00 5.40

White testliner DP handsheet 13.70 4.25

Fluting 15.00 15.00

Fluting DP handsheet 9.20 4.49

Mixed P&B DP handsheet 2.57 3.16

Unprinted newsprint 0.64 2.88

Unprinted magazine paper < 0.50 2.12

Newsprint/magazine

handsheet < 0.50 < 1.00

Table 2: DIPN content and total phthalate content in analysed papers

expressed as mg/dm2 (DP – deinked pulp, P&B – paper and board)

Sample Grammage

g/m2

DIPN

(mg/dm2)

Total phthalate

(mg/dm2)

Limit 1.33 mg/dm2

Limit 0.25 mg/dm2

White testliner 130 0.0182 0.0070

White testliner DP

handsheet 100 0.0137 0.0043

Fluting 170 0.0255 0.0255

Fluting DP handsheet 100 0.0092 0.0045

Mixed P&B DP

handsheet 100 0.0026 0.0032

Unprinted newsprint 45 0.0003 0.0013

Unprinted magazine

paper 65 - 0.0014

Newsprint/magazine

handsheet 100 - -


39

Paper product footprint category rules – measuring

sustainability

Jori Ringman-Beck

Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI), Brussels

([email protected])

Introduction

Environmental Product Footprint Category Rules (PFCR) aim at

providing detailed technical guidance on how to conduct a product

environmental footprint study. PFCRs complement general methodological guidance for environmental footprint by providing

further specification at the product level and increase reproducibility

and consistency in product environmental footprint studies.

As defined in ISO 14025(2006), PCRs (Product Category Rules)

include sets of specific rules, guidelines and requirements that are

aimed at developing Type III environmental declarations. Type III

environmental declarations are quantitative, LCA-based claims of the environmental aspects of a certain good or service.

Objective

Environmental footprinting has recently gained lot of political interest

in the EU and a clear will exist since end of 2010 for achieving a

harmonized EU method for calculating a product’s environmental

footprint, to ensure that additional information for consumers about the environmental impact of products is included or to use it as a policy

tool in the EU.

The European Commission requested CEPI to make a pilot on producing PFCR for the paper sector, and to develop a method to

generate a consensus for the PFCR in a very short time of less than 6

months. The aim of the project was mainly to test the PFCR developing process but also to start the PFCR development work for

paper.



40

Results

Stakeholders were invited to give comments or suggest amendments on the draft PFCR chapters during crowd sourcing

(1) stages and to

attend the stakeholder meeting which was held in Brussels 14 and 15

November 2011. An internet-based tool (2) was developed to allow the

stakeholders to see the draft and suggest detailed comments,

amendments and to upload supporting documents and studies.

Comments received through open consultation were publicly available

for all registered participants via this online collaboration platform, available as from September 2011.

The PFCR for paper was based on the forthcoming European

methodology for the calculation of environmental footprint of products (3) (draft November 2011),

European Commission, 2011). For the most part, the PFCR for paper is

in line with the Product Environmental Footprint Guide with the exception of a screening study that was not conducted in the pilot. The

reason for the exclusion was the tight schedule and limited resources.

At the end of the process, on 12 December 2011, an e-vote was

organised to measure the level of support of the document among the stakeholders who contributed to its drafting and to receive feedback on

the crowd sourcing method.

Further background information can be found on the European Commission website at:

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/eussd/product_footprint.htm

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crowdsourcing

2. Available at www.paperpfcr.eu

3. Available at:

ttp://ec.europa.eu/environment/eussd/product_footprint.html

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/paperpfcrevoting

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/eussd/product_footprint.htm


41

SAICA Group - Sustainable Innovation

Hans Helmrich,

Saica Group, Zaragoza, Spain ([email protected])

About Saica

Saica is well known in Aragon, but possibly not in its full dimension, so I think it is important to explain the basis of our business in order to

understand the importance of INNOVATION as a differentiating

factor. This is what we call our Integration Cycle and represents one

of the keys to SAICA’s success in its lifespan from 1940 to today.

Saica started out as a paper company and today its Saica Paper

division has 900 people working in 3 countries as from this year

producing more than 2 million tons of paper for packaging and with a turnover of around 900 million Eur. In 1975, it decided to extend the

business vertically both upstream and downstream and created Saica

Pack and Saica Natur.

Saica Pack is the division that manufactures corrugated board

packaging with more than 5,700 employees in 6 countries, producing

about 2,400 million square metres of paperboard, which is equivalent

to the surface area of 330 large football stadiums each year, with an annual turnover of about 1,200 million Euros.

Saica Natur is dedicated to integrated waste management aiming at

zero landfill, i.e. to helping our customers avoid sending their industrial waste to landfill. With over 1,600 employees in 4 countries,

it manages more than 2.7 million tons per year of waste and has an

annual turnover of 460 million Euro.

From the outset and after starting fabric production in 1940, Saica identified innovation in its processes as a fundamental mainstay that

has remained up to the present day. For that reason, in 1943, it

switched from producing fabric to making paper from cereal straw fibre. That first year, we produced 574 tons of paper, whereas this


42

year, following the opening of our British mill, we will reach 2.3

million tonnes.

Innovation in papermaking

In the following years, Saica continued to work on improving its

papermaking processes, generating a host of patents for those

processes that are still in use today in various parts of the world. In

1975, as part of its development that was already ahead of its time, the

company understood the importance of vertical integration and, as

explained earlier, the Saica Pack and Saica Natur divisions were

created. In 1987, Saica sets up the first major combined heat & power

cogeneration cycle in Spain, to be followed later by others such as

Ford in Valencia. In 1996, we decided that we needed to improve the

impact of our operations on the environment and stopped producing cereal straw-based paper to focus on what is now our specialty, the

manufacture of paper using recovered paper.

Over the years, we have launched many products, until in 2011, we succeeded in implementing a further process innovation, with which

we avoid sending more than 450,000 tons of plastics from our

production process to landfills and instead use them to recover energy.

This is what we call the Saica Continuous Innovation process. We work in three stages:

°Generating ideas

°Analyzing those ideas °Marketing those ideas

For those purposes, we have three types of projects: In-house projects,

which start with ideas from our collaborators and employees; Projects with Customers or what we call Co-Innovation Projects; and last,

but of increasing importance, Projects with Third Parties, where we

maintain very close partnerships with technology institutes such as the

ITA in Zaragoza or with our suppliers and partners,

It is true that Innovation not only focuses on products but also on

processes, and with the last work channel I mentioned before, namely

with third parties, we think about things differently, we analyse trends


43

and from that achieve processes (not only productive) that allow us to

gain an increasingly competitive edge.

In the end, when our job is well done, out of 100 ideas that we generate, only 5 will become truly successful products.

Through this joint collaboration, we managed to turn into reality a new

production process that has become a reference and example for our

competitors.

We had to start from an idea and manage to get a process that worked

for other materials to thermoform corrugated board. This process is

now a reality today at our Meco mill, where we have two of these machines installed with a production capacity of about 60 million trays

a year. As you will show in the video, the product has a number of

benefits, for instance:

◦ it is 100% recyclable, biodegradable and sustainable. ◦ it reduces the customer’s freight and logistical costs.

◦ it is printable so it can be differentiated from alternative materials.

◦its environmental impact accounts for up to 76% fewer CO2

emissions.

In short our product:

◦It is more sustainable, ◦It reduces costs,

◦It is optimal for retail distribution such as: Carrefour, who has been

our partner on the project from the outset; Alcampo/Auchan has also

decided to use it; and Consum, a large retail distribution chain in the Valencia region, who is also using our product now.


44

Industrial symbiosis in paper industry – state-of-art

and the way forward

Jori Ringman-Beck

Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI), Brussels

([email protected])

Industrial Symbiosis (IS) has graduated from academic curiosity to

practical tool and has been established as “business as usual” without

any particular altruistic relationships between the participating organisations. Whist the EU policies are still searching for the way to

employ IS in a wide range of areas from innovation, green growth and

economic development to waste policy and resource efficiency, the academic discussion of IS is still going on.

IS can be defined (Chertow, 2000) as “the part of industrial ecology

known as industrial symbiosis engages traditionally separate industries

in a collective approach to competitive advantage involving physical exchange of materials, energy, water and by-products. The keys to

industrial symbiosis are collaboration and the synergistic possibilities

offered by geographic proximity.” More recently, the definition has been revisited in the light of the experience gained.

Objective

The paper will discuss the definition of IS in the context of the

European paper industry in order to develop a framework for

identifying existing practices of IS in the sector, to discuss the suitability of the “habitat” of paper industry for a flourishing IS in

Europe and to point out possible areas of further research.


1st Conference BioMatPack - Authors

45

Aut hors

Gülden Yılmaz

Dr. Gülden Yılmaz has obtained her

engineering degree from Istanbul

Technical University in food engineering and her PhD from Utrecht University in

polymer technology. She currently holds

the position of a program manager and is responsible for coordination of new

business initiatives and ongoing research

activities in the Cluster Fibre Technology

and Applications at Agrotechnology and Food Innovations in Wageningen.

Research Interests

Gulden has over 10 years of experience in applied research in the field

of biobased products, with specific expertise in polymer technology,

fibre technology and applications.

Her research interests include development of biobased materials and

their applications; materials/energy efficiency of processes;

valorization of renewable raw materials including fibres and polymers from side and waste streams for added value applications.

Her scientific work has led to several scientific papers, abstracts,

chapters, awards (Prix Céréalier, group award, 1999), and patent

applications.


46

Ho, Thi Thu Thao

Thi Thu Thao Ho is a PhD student

in Cellulose Nanocomposites group of Applied Wood Materials

Laboratory at EMPA (Swiss

Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology)

She is supervised by Dr. Tanja

Zimmermann from EMPA and

Prof. Paul Smith, Prof. Walter Caseri from ETH Zurich (Swiss

Federal Institute of Technology

Zurich).

Education and research

From 1999 to 2004, she studied Chemistry at University of Technology (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam) where she was awarded the

Bachelors of Engineering in Organic Chemistry Technology.

From 2006 to 2008 she was enrolled as Master student at the Department of Chemistry of Umeå University, Sweden.

Since 2009 she has been working on “Development of clay-

nanofibrillated cellulose composites as barrier layers in packaging

materials” project at EMPA. This project is funded by the Commission for Technology and Innovation, Switzerland (CTI).


47

Francis Clegg

Francis Clegg graduated from Sheffield Hallam University in

1994, with a BSc Hons Degree in

Applied Chemistry and continued at

the same establishment within the Materials and Engineering Research

Institute (MERI) to complete a PhD

on organo-mineral interactions in 1997. After a brief spell at the

University of Newcastle he returned

to MERI to continue his research with particular emphasis on clay-

polymer nanocomposites

Research interests

As an integral member of the Polymers, Composites and Spectroscopy (PCAS) group for over 11 years within MERI, Francis's research

interests are stimulated by investigations into several innovative

materials under exploration and development, including:

i) sustainable and flexible high barrier packaging based on clay-polymer composites,

ii) fire-retardant clay-polymer composites for structural applications

and their thermal degradation processes,

iii) fabrication of bespoke organo-modified clays, including mixed

modified clays, for the fundamental understanding of clay dispersion in

polymer nanocomposites,

iv) control of stimuli responsive polymers using clays.

The topics of research are interconnected and heightened through an

interest in clays and their ever-increasing applications in both

thermoplastic and thermoset polymer systems as composites.


48

Peter Šimon

Peter Šimon is professor at Institute

of Physical Chemistry and Chemical

Physics, Faculty of Chemical and

Food Technology, Slovak University

of Technology, Bratislava.

Publications:

° 140 publications in CC abstracted

journals ° 170 papers delivered at conferences

° About 800 SCI citations,

H-index: 20

Research interests

1. Kinetics and thermodynamics of the processes in condensed state, elaboration of the theory of the single-step approximation.

2. Kinetics of the processes exhibiting the induction period

(thermooxidation, crystallization, rubber curing, etc.).

3. Degradation and stabilization of polymers, predictions of the thermal and thermooxidation stability of polymers and organic materials,

elaboration of criteria used for the evaluation of stability, efficiency

of stabilizers, synergy, equivalence between accelerated and field tests.

4. Kinetics of the processes occurring in food (interaction

food/packaging, kinetics of acrylamide formation/elimination, health risks conveyed by nanoparticles in food, etc.).


49

David Plackett

David Plackett holds a PhD in

inorganic chemistry from the University of British Columbia,

Vancouver, Canada.

Presently he holds the position of Senior Scientist at the Danish

Polymer Center, DTU

Department of Chemical and

Biochemical Engineering. His research interests focus on the

properties and use of biopolymer

nanocomposites.

Research interests

Dr. Plackett has international experience in research and research

management through positions held in the UK, Canada, New Zealand and Denmark. His career background includes research on wood

product development and biopolymer-based materials. Since arriving

in Denmark in 1998 he has been involved in research on the use of bio-derived polymers in packaging, construction materials and

pharmaceutical applications.

Dr. Plackett represented the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) in the EU Sixth Framework Sustainpack project (2004-2008) and was

coordinator of the Nanopack project (2007-2011), funded by the

Danish Council for Strategic Research, which examined the

development of polylactide nanocomposite films for meat packaging.


50

Raluca Nicu

Actually, Raluca Nicu is holding a postdoctoral researcher position in the

European Project PERFORMERA, at

„Gheorghe Asachi” Technical

University of Iasi, Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Environmental

Protection, Iasi, Romania. The research

topic is “Bio-additives for improving ecological profile of papermaking

processes and paper recycling

potential”


Raluca is graduated in Chemistry from „Al. I. Cuza” University,

Romania, in June 2000 and from October 2000 to July 2001 she was enrolled as master student at Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University

of Iasi, in the field of Paper Science and Technology. She continued

research at the same establishment and completed a PhD thesis on the

interactions between chemical additives and paperstock components, defended in 2006.

During her stage at „Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University of Iasi,

Raluca performed work in the frame of two European Projects: 2008 -2010, FP7 – SORTIT - Recovered paper sorting with innovative

technologies - New technologies for waste sorting (project coordinator

professor Bobu Elena; 2005 – 2008, FP6 – ECOBINDERS - Furan and lignin based resins as eco-friendly and durable solutions for wood

preservation, panel, board and design products (project coordinator

professor Popa I. Valentin).


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Maja Jakovljević

Maja Jakovljević works as

junior researcher/assistant at

the Department of Printing

Materials, Faculty of Graphic

Arts, University of Zagreb,

Croatia.


Maja is a postgraduate doctoral student of Graphical Engineering at

University of Zagreb, Faculty of Graphic Arts. She has experience in laboratory testing of paper properties and paper recycling. She is

currently working on defining the PhD topic.

As a junior researcher she is currently involved in a bilateral scientific project “Treatments of fibre based Materials for Improved Food

Packaging: IMPRO-FOOD-PACK”, established between TU Dresden,

Germany and Faculty of Graphic Arts, University of Zagreb, Croatia.


52

Günter Müller

Günter Müller is working as project

manager at Papiertechnische Stiftung

(PTS), Munich, Germany, in PTS Business Unit for “Environmentally

Compatible and Sustainable Product

Design”.


Günter Müller studied Forestry Sciences at Munich Technical

University (TUM) and, after graduating successfully, spent some time

as a research associate at the Georg August University in Goettingen.

There he took a doctor’s degree in 2008 on a topic in the field of wood chemistry.

Dr. Müller worked as a project manager in the PTS Fibre Composites

Department from 2008 until the beginning of 2010 when he switched to the PTS Business Unit for “Environmentally Compatible and

Sustainable Product Design”.


53

Mercedes Hortal

Mercedes Hortal is currently Head of Sustainability Division and Waste

management and she has recently

become Technical Manager at

(Packaging, Transport & Logistics Research Institute). She has PhD on

packaging and environment, MSc in

Agronomist Engineering (Polytechnical University of Valencia), Master Degree

on Packaging Technology (ITENE) and

Master of Advanced Studies (Polytechnical University of Valencia).

Research interests

Dr. Mercedes Hortal has more than 8 years’ experience in

sustainability assessment, focusing on life cycle assessment, carbon

footprint and waste minimization and management. As Technical Manager, she is responsible for an effective collaboration within

different technical areas, development of new research areas, search for

new agreements. Main areas of activities are:

◦ Definition and implementation of sustainability projects in

cooperation with companies related to packaging, transport, logistics and distribution (e.g. Eroski, CARREFOUR, IHOBE, SAICA Natur,

and others)

◦ Coordination and development of technical reports and National and European ‘Research and Development’ projects (e.g. ROPAS, LCA to

GO, ECOPACK, SORT IT, and others)

◦ Cooperation with Standardisation Committee AENOR and Spanish

expert in European and International working groups

◦ Participation as European Evaluator for ICT for Sustainable Growth-

systems FP7-ICT 2011-7 - Objective 6.2 – Systems for Energy Efficiency


54

Fabiano Piccinno

Fabiano Piccinno is a PhD

student working on life cycle

concepts and methods on

sustainable innovation at Empa,

Swiss Federal Laboratories for

Materials Science and Technology, Switzerland

Research interests

In 2011, he received his MSc degree in chemistry and business studies

from the faculty of science at the University of Zurich. He started his

PhD studies at Empa and the University of Zurich in September 2011. His current research, which is embedded in a FP7 project called

NanoCelluComp, looks into the ecological and economic impacts of

nanocellulose bio-composites.


55

Sonja Jamnicki

Sonja Jamnicki is currently

employed as a senior research assistant at the Department for

Materials in Printing Technology at

the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Graphic Arts.

Research interests

Sonja Jamnicki received her PhD degree in 2011 from the University

of Zagreb, Faculty of Graphic Arts. In her doctoral thesis “Suitability

evaluation of different recovered paper grades for production of health safe food packaging”, she has conducted detailed investigations

concerning the types of chemical contaminants that can be present in

different recycled paper and board grades and can negatively affect the

health safety of the food packaging.

As a researcher at the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Graphic Arts,

she is currently involved in a bilateral scientific project “Treatments of

fibre based Materials for Improved Food Packaging” established between TU Dresden, Germany and Faculty of Graphic Arts,

University of Zagreb, Croatia.


56

Jori Ringman-Beck

Jori Ringman-Beck is Director

Recycling, Product & Environment,

CEPI. He has a background in Economics (Helsinki University) and

Business Management (Helsinki

School of Economics) and broad

experience in communications, public administration and politics. He also

holds a post-graduate diploma in

Environmental Decision-making (OU, Milton Keynes)

Research and management activities

As Director Recycling, Product and Environment in CEPI, Jori is

responsible for issues relating to paper recycling, waste policy and

products, with particular concern for packaging and food contact issues, sustainable consumption and production policy. Environmental

issues and policies are central to all CEPI activities, as the industry

works to minimise its impact across the EU; the issues covered range from the revision of pulp and paper BREF (Best Available Techniques

Reference Document) to environmental foot-printing.

Prior to his appointment in CEPI in February 2005, he was a civil servant in the European Commission. He has also worked in the

European Parliament Environment Committee as a political advisor

(1999 – 2004), as a journalist and editor in Finland, and as Secretary

General of a parliamentary group in the Finnish National Parliament in Helsinki.


57

Hans Helmrich

Hans Helmrich is Director of R&D&I and Business Development of the Saica

Group, from January 2009. He joined

Saica in October 2006 as Director of the

Centre of Innovation and Logistics of Packaging of SAICA.

He has a BD in Business Administration

from the Pontifical Comillas University

and in 1997 finalize the Master in

Sales and Marketing management by

the “Instituto de Empresa” (Madrid -

Spain)

Research and management activities

Before joining Saica, Hans worked for Johnson Controls as General

Manager of Product Planning and Business Development of the

Electronics Division in Europe. Additionally, he has held different positions at Johnson Controls:

◦ Director of Footprint Optimization and BBPs for the whole Johnson

Controls Europe Operations

◦ Director of Business Development and General Plant Manager

Seating of the Fiat Business Unit of Johnson Controls, based in Italy ◦ General Manager and Managing Director of Webasto

Thermossystems Ibérica, subsidiary of Webasto AG in Spain and

Portugal

◦ Product management & Business Development Manager of the Metal division for Europe & Asia of Johnson Controls

◦ Product management & Business Development Manager of the Metal

division for Europe & Asia of Johnson Controls, responsible of sales

and program management in the Europe & Asia Head Office of the Metal division in Germany, responsible of the sales in Johnson

Controls Alagón.

1st Conference BioMatPack - Notes

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booklet abstrats and cvs-final

Documents