BIOCOMPLACK is a biobased, biodegradable and compostable food packaging with enhances barrier properties. BIOCOMPLACK is a food biopackaging with three main points of innovation: the use of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs), the multilayer structure and the PLA biopolymer reinforced with organoclays which contain natural food preservatives. These three innovations will enhance the barrier properties to oxygen (more than 100 times compared with common biopackaging) and water vapour as well as will improve the shelf-life of food. BIOCOMPLACK is an alternative to common bio-packaging products that enhances 300% the shelf-life of food. This international project is born in a consortium integrated by two large enterprises (Sapici and Goglio), two small-medium enterprises (SMEs) (NaturePlast and Tecnopackaging) and a research institution (Packlab, University of Milan) from four different countries which together cover the supply chain of the food packaging industry. BIOCOMPLACK will have strong impact in the society and in the environment. BIOCOMPLACK will be an eco-friendly packaging from natural renewable sources instead of fossil fuels, will reduce the plastic packaging waste thanks to its biodegradability in the nature and will generate at the end of its useful life an added value product, the compost (to improve the quality of soils and provide nutrients). Our BIOCOMPLACK solution will provide a loop cycle of sustainability. European Union will be also impacted by BIOCOMPLACK because it will make a substantial contribution to innovation in the European economy, will reduce the import of biopackaging from outside the EU and we will export at international level. This consortium will also be benefited by bringing into the market the BIOCOMPLACK food packaging in 36 months. The profitability of the project presents for the first 5 years a ROI of 2.47 and the pay-back of the project will be achieved after 2 years and 9 months after the beginning of the commercialization

The MANDALA project presents a sustainable solution for the plastic packaging sector which tackles 3 pillars: eco-design, dual functionality & end-of-life; with the aim to find a final solution based on multilayer monomaterial packaging with functionalities compared to multimaterial ones and fully produced with biobased & recycled polymers in order to reach a full circularity of resources. MANDALA will develop new adhesives with dual functionality (easy to split and barrier properties) by incorporating thermoreversible covalent bonds and radiation absorbing nanoparticles, which at the same time will generate a tortuous path enhancing barrier properties that are critical for end-user. In addition, new polymer blends with increased biobased and recycled content of film layers will be developed. Their combination in a multilayer product will set the basis for new food (meat, ready-to-eat) and pharma (pill blister) packaging products. MANDALA project will demonstrate that the de-lamination technology can be up-scaled and applied to reach intermediate solutions for multilayer/multimaterial packaging (being biobased or not) progressively helping to become the end-of-life more sustainable by recovering all fractions and providing clean streams for their biodegradation or recycling. MANDALA project will directly contribute to achieve KPI 1, KPI 2, KPI 6, KPI 8 and demonstrate the solution decreasing the end-of-life costs and CO2 emissions in more than a 30%. It will develop innovations in 3 KETS. MANDALA consortium involves 12 partners (4RTD, 5SME, 1SME cluster and 2 Large Companies) accounting 2 BIC full members and 2 associated. The 42-months project will comprise a total estimated budget of 4,573,892,5€ and requested funding of 3,650,921,75€. There is a strong engagement of the industry with 922,970,75€ in-kinds (20,2%) and 4,869,731€ in additional activities during the project (machine acquisition) and 3,820,000€ envisaged to upgrade TRL after the end of the project.