Smart Materials: Green packaging for fruit and vegetables, made entirely from plant waste (video)

SMART MATERIALS

Produce materials from packaging “smart” ones made entirely from vegetable wasteThis is the aim of Smart Materials, a research group based within theItalian Institute of Technology in Genoa, which has long been focusing its efforts on the development of new smart materials. The latter are mainly derived from natural polymers of vegetal origin or biodegradable polymers and can boast a minimal environmental impact, as well as ensuring the reuse of products that would otherwise be thrown away.

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ECO-FRIENDLY PACKAGING

In collaboration with the Genoa Market Management Company and Ascom Confcommercio, the researchers have exploited vegetable waste, particularly carrots and artichokes, to convert unsold leftovers into eco-sustainable containers for fruits and veg Made of 100% biodegradable plastic. To achieve this, they worked on new smart materials, "tuning" their functionality, or modified the properties of existing materials, modifying their behavior. "Our idea," explains John Perotto, researcher at the IIT in Genoa – is to create packaging and the synergy with the fruit and vegetable market goes exactly in this direction: to use their waste and transform it into a raw material to produce plastic, but made of vegetables, to be used within the market itself".

BIODEGRADABLE AND RENEWABLE PACKAGING

The final product is a series of biodegradable and renewable materials, but at the same time hydrophobic and thermoformable, suitable for covering different roles both for the transport of fruit More delicate. In addition to packaging, the researchers also developed a special pellet, which proved ideal for supplying companies that produce plastic objects or 3D materials.