INNOVATION: Biodegradable food packaging made from whey.

04. January 2019 | Plastics | via Wheypack.eu

PHB-based packaging from whey. (Credit: Wheypack.eu)

WHEYPACK project aims to demonstrate environmental and socio-economic benefits of a biodegradable food packaging material with a lower environmental impact through the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in comparison with current petrol-based food packaging materials. According to their website Wheypack.eu the biodegradable food packaging material selected is Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) that will be obtained from a by-product (whey) that comes from the cheese industries; PHB will be produced using a process of microbial fermentation.

The amount of whey produced in Europe is really important and it is a surplus of this industry. The PHB material will be used for the production of economic and competitive packages for dairy products uses. Hence, the industry that generates whey, among others, will become the beneficiary of the new packages tailored to the needs of their products, so valorising the whey surplus and closing the life cycle, taking into consideration the life-cycle thinking perspective.