{"id":158328,"date":"2025-02-19T07:35:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-19T06:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/?p=158328"},"modified":"2025-02-14T12:58:46","modified_gmt":"2025-02-14T11:58:46","slug":"harnessing-wood-for-sustainable-food-packaging","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/harnessing-wood-for-sustainable-food-packaging\/","title":{"rendered":"Harnessing wood for sustainable food packaging"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
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\u00a9 monticellllo\/stock.adobe.com<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Since its launch in October 2023, the EU-funded REDYSIGN<\/a> project has focused on doing its part to reduce the use of polluting plastic packaging for fresh meat products. The project\u2019s sustainable alternative to fossil-based packaging \u2013 a recyclable, bio-based solution \u2013 involves the use of wood-derived materials. Its innovations in this area were recently showcased at the Safe-and-Sustainable-by-Design Conference (SSbD24) held in Switzerland from 10 to 15 November 2024. REDYSIGN was represented at the SSbD24 by Portuguese project partner HOLOSS that shared valuable insights into applying eco-design strategies to develop innovative and sustainable packaging solutions for fresh meat products. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThe work we presented illustrates the connection between the SSbD structure and Eco-Design principles, detailing the steps we took to apply the Eco-Design methodology to the REDYSIGN solutions,\u201d explains HOLOSS Project<\/strong> Research Specialist in Sustainable Circular Economy Ana Elisa Lago<\/strong> in a recent REDYSIGN news item<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIts application to the innovations of the project will contribute to enhancing the overall sustainability of our solutions, minimising negative effects on the environment, and promoting circular economy. Attending the event not only raised awareness of the project and the challenges we face but also provided a valuable opportunity for conversation and problem-solving.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The circularity and sustainability goal<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

REDYSIGN intends to make every part of its packaging \u2013 the tray, the barrier coating, the absorbent pad and the film \u2013 exclusively from wood constituents, such as cellulose fibres, microfibres and nanofibres, as well as lignin and sugars. The packaging will also have two sensors to prevent food spoilage and an identification marker to improve sorting and increase recycling efficiency. The team is also developing new technologies and improving existing processes to reduce the amount of energy consumed in packaging production and mitigate CO2<\/sub> emissions. So far, project researchers have taken steps to lower the energy consumption of wood fibre production. They have also been working towards reducing the large quantities of water currently required in a process called high-consistency functionalisation, where fibres are treated to provide them with new desirable properties such as water resistance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThe results obtained so far are promising, with water amounts as low as 10 L\/kg of fiber (vs current 200-400L\/kg), while there is a large margin for further reduction,\u201d reports another REDYSIGN news item<\/a>. \u201cAdditionally, the efficiency of the reaction has increased several times, allowing also for a reduction in chemical dosage. Pure resource-efficiency.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

According to a \u2018Packaging Europe\u2019 article<\/a>, the project has also used life cycle assessments to analyse the overall environmental impact of its process. It has defined process flows for each innovation and conducted initial screenings of substances expected in the manufacturing phase in order to assess chemical data availability. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The resource-efficient processes the project proposes for the production of a bio-based, recyclable and smart fibre-based packaging alternative for fresh meat will help push the EU further along the road to climate neutrality. REDYSIGN (Resource-efficient processes for the production and circularization of innovative RECYclable-by-DeSIGN fresh meat smart packaging from wood) ends in 2027.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Since its launch in October 2023, the EU-funded REDYSIGN project has focused on doing its part to reduce the use of polluting plastic packaging for fresh meat products. The project\u2019s sustainable alternative to fossil-based packaging \u2013 a recyclable, bio-based solution \u2013 involves the use of wood-derived materials. Its innovations in this area were recently showcased at the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":158345,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","nova_meta_subtitle":"An EU-backed project is creating fresh meat packaging using wood-based materials and smart sensors that does not harm the environment","footnotes":""},"categories":[5572],"tags":[11270,22947,10416,21454,15794,7105,5528,15170],"supplier":[1871,25699],"class_list":["post-158328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bio-based","tag-biodegradability","tag-cellulosefibres","tag-circulareconomy","tag-ecodesign","tag-lca","tag-packaging","tag-sustainability","tag-woodfibres","supplier-cordis","supplier-holoss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=158328"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158328\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/158345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158328"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=158328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}