New project: Bio-based packaging solutions derived from beer production waste

The BioSupPack project started a new project year aiming to develop packaging solutions based on polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) derived from beer production residues and a feasible recycling process for these bio-based plastics to ensure that resources remain in circulation.

Partners of the BioSupPack project held a meeting.

Coordinated by AIMPLAS, the Plastics Technology Centre and with a budget of EUR 8.8 million, BioSupPack is developing a demonstration process for the production and enzymatic recycling of new PHA bio-based packaging solutions.

In several interlinked working groups, the project consortium partners will obtain PHAs from brewer’s spent grain and other monomers from enzymatic recycling of PHA packaging waste.

Based on the PHA compounds, several rigid packaging prototypes with tailored barrier properties will be designed at a pilot scale and tailored towards feasible waste collection and separation options.

The packaging solutions will include injection-molded PHA and biocomposites demonstrators, as well as PHA-coated fiber-based service packaging and ready meal trays.

The project partners will also develop an enzymatic recycling process for recovering PHA from the new packaging solutions. This implies the feasibility of upcycling post-industrial waste within the production process.

The prototypes will be assessed regarding their environmental and socio economic sustainability and the safety of the new bio-based packaging.