GENERAL INFORMATION

 

MyPack project aims to help sustainable food packaging technologies  reach or extend their market. It will provide general guidelines to select the best market for new technology and to ensure the best commercial development, through: 

(i) the best environmental efficiency (direct impacts of packaging, food waste impacts, optimized recycling, preserved consumer health), 

(ii) the best consumer acceptability, 

(iii) optimized industrial feasibility.

 

Three ambitious SMART key objectives with associated KPIs will be considered during   MyPack project to promote the commercial development of:

- Biodegradable and compostable packaging

- Packaging from renewable resources

- Elaborated (high barrier and active) packaging technologies.

 

Barriers and challenges are identified, and solutions to overcome them are presented.

Seven innovative sustainable food packaging solutions are considered, of which five will be developed and exploited. The sustainable food packaging state of the art is comprehensively described, and it is made clear how   MyPack solutions will extend beyond it.

Appropriate measures, in line with the work program, were selected to maximize the impact of the project.   MyPack project targets the scope of the call throughout this proposal and is thus fully in line with the call objectives.

A convincing exploitation plan is presented in the form of seven work packages, five of which are technical in nature. Appropriate milestones and risks are considered to complete the project objectives in due time.

 MyPack consortium is composed of 18 partners, covering the academic, scientific and industrial world, including SMEs. Significant stakeholders have provided letters of intent, showing their interest in   MyPack approach, which will have an essential impact on defining the best markets for the exploitation of innovative sustainable food packaging solutions.

 

GENERAL OBJECTIVE

 

The goal of MyPack is to support the market introduction of innovative packaging to reduce both food and packaging waste and their negative influence on the environment. In the 27 European countries, 89 million tons of food waste are produced each year, which means that Europeans throw away 20% of the food they buy. Packaging waste is also produced by the ton, the recovery rate varies between 50 and 98%, while the recycling rate between 50 and 79%. An important parameter for evaluating packaging is its optimal environmental impact. For such a concept to be successful, the consumers also need to participate. Information, awareness raising, and dissemination of the advantages are key elements. That is why   MyPack aims to include the various expectations from different consumer groups related to product sustainability, handling, and product safety and quality in the project. New packaging can be adapted to many different consumer expectations.   MyPack strives to find the best possible products and the best possible market for the commercial development of new packaging technologies. 

 

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

 

 MyPack will provide general guidelines to select the best market for a new technology. These guidelines will provide tools and methodologies to packaging and manufacturing industries, for an appropriate commercial development strategy taking into account:

• The environmental efficiency (direct impacts of packaging, food waste impacts, optimized recycling, preserved consumer health)

• The consumer adoption

• An optimized industrial feasibility.

These general objectives will be developed for two groups of packaging technologies:

• BIOPLASTIC PACKAGING;

• BIODEGRADABLE AND COMPOSTABLE PACKAGING

• PACKAGING FROM RENEWABLE RESOURCES

• ELABORATED (HIGH BARRIER AND ACTIVE) PACKAGING TECHNOLOGIES.

 

MAIN ACTIVITIES

 

Stocktaking of regulatory barriers: collect new specifications from industry as well as identify technical, macroeconomic and regulatory barriers, focusing on food packaging. WP1 is expected to describe the current situation along the whole technological chain.

Specification for consumers: mapping target populations for new and improved packaging, (ii) mapping consumer-level requirements for product packaging optimization, (iii) validating new packaging potential with a focus on local circumstances.

Food waste data, and environmental assessment: identify product-packaging-market clusters enabling the definition of “fit for packaging” purpose on a system perspective and the eco-efficiency assessment of such packaging by means of the combination of LCA and LCC methodologies.

Packaging innovations: industrial feasibility, functionality, chemical inertia, end life feasibility: overcoming the barriers identified for the different types of packaging using the data collected.

Dissemination activities: towards industrialists and academics playing a role in the value network underpinning methods to overcome the barriers to market uptake of many promising food packaging technologies. Towards this goal, the following tasks aim at making the project work widely known, establishing links with related ongoing research initiatives, managing the foreground knowledge and protecting it as appropriate, exploring and assessing emerging application areas, and setting the foundations for future commercial exploitation and opportunities.

 

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