Med Marine

Technological Development

Green Pack - Med Marine

Green Pack

100% PET packaging, fully recyclable, for food packaging.

The initiative was launched with the goal of revolutionizing the food packaging market by developing food containers made entirely of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) that are fully recyclable and have a low environmental impact.

Context and Problem

Currently, PET trays used in food packaging are made of multiple layers of different plastic materials bonded together. This multi-material structure makes recycling extremely difficult, leading to significant waste of raw materials, high CO₂ emissions, and waste management challenges. These issues represent a major obstacle to the circular economy and environmental sustainability within the European Union.

Project Objectives

  • Full recyclability: by eliminating the multi-material composition.
  • High oxygen barrier properties: to preserve food freshness and quality.
  • High transparency: for an aesthetically pleasing and functional product.
  • Reduced carbon footprint: significantly lower impact compared to current packaging.

The Consortium

  • AVEP - Asociación Valenciana de Empresarios de Plásticos (Coordinator)
  • BPF - The British Plastics Federation (United Kingdom)
  • HAEE - Association of Environmental Service Providers and Manufacturers (Hungary)
  • Point Plastic Srl (Italy) - pointplastic.it
  • Closed Loop Recycling Ltd (United Kingdom)
  • UNITV - University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, Department of Industrial Engineering (Italy)
  • Teknologisk Institutt (Norway)
  • Labor Srl (Italy)

The 10 Key Phases of the Project

  1. Development of a specific additive to impart oxygen barrier properties to PET.
  2. Definition of a mono-material multilayer structure based on virgin PET and rPET.
  3. Laboratory-scale extrusion line for prototype production.
  4. Study of the barrier properties of RPET sheets.
  5. Evaluation of production effects on additive-containing sheets, including aesthetics and functionality.
  6. Analysis of the processability of the mono-material multilayer layers.
  7. Combination of RPET/virgin PET for food-contact film.
  8. Verification of the shelf life of the newly developed PET containers.
  9. Dedicated recycling strategy for the final containers (“bottle-to-tray” model).
  10. LCA: assessment of environmental impact over the entire life cycle.

Expected Impacts

  • Significant reduction in CO₂ emissions related to plastic packaging production.
  • Improved quality and transparency of PET trays for food packaging.
  • Increased percentage of recycled materials used in new products.
  • Concrete contribution to the European circular economy and a model replicable in other sectors.

More information: www.greenpack-project.eu

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