Paper chase: Biobased barrier tech consortium takes on food packaging
At the center of the collaboration is CellShield® Protopia™, a barrier technology developed by Eurobrillance and Plastigraf Trevigiana using NatureWorks’ Ingeo™ biopolymer technology. By bringing together expertise in renewable materials, coating and lamination technologies, and industrial thermoforming, the companies have demonstrated a complete value chain approach to developing high-performance fiber-based packaging.
CellShield Protopia offers two approaches to barrier performance: lamination and dispersion coating. Both technologies utilize Ingeo biopolymers derived from renewable resources and are designed to address a range of packaging performance and end-of-life requirements.
The lamination approach combines very thin, biobased biaxially oriented polylactic acid films with paperboard using a compostable water-based adhesive. These very thin films provide heat-sealing capabilities and support additional barrier protection while reducing material use, making them well-suited for applications such as thermoformed trays and food packaging.
The dispersion coating approach uses a water-based coating made with Ingeo biopolymers to provide barrier protection for paper and paperboard. Applied in thin layers using existing coating equipment, it offers a lightweight, scalable solution for frozen food packaging and products with shorter shelf lives.
During forming trials, the team achieved production speeds comparable to conventional PET-laminated paperboard, with forming times of approximately 0.2 seconds and an average of 27 mold-closing cycles per minute for 35 mm-deep containers.
Category: Chemicals & Materials
