NeoPalea: bio-based material for packaging applications

This research aimed to replace conventional packaging derived from fossil resources with a sustainable composite material (named NeoPalea) to produce tertiary packaging based on the combination of natural organic fibrous material (i.e., straw, leaves, Posidonia Oceanica) and biodegradable biopolymers. The manufacturing process is focused on obtaining pre-compressed products made of fibrous material in a state of compression and bioplastic permanently in tension. The use of straw, in particular, is due to this material being considered a waste of cereal production (in 2020, 21 109 tons globally), with a minimal market value. At the same time, Mater-Bi is a biodegradable and compostable bioplastic produced from corn starch by Novamont S.p.A (UNI EN 13432: 2002). The NeoPalea forming procedure involved the following phases: rolling straw into Mater-Bi sheets, placing rolls into the mould, pressing the mould (the fibrous material acquires a state of compression between 1 N/mm2 and 13 N/mm2, according to the final uses), heating (about 80°C in a high-frequency electromagnetic radiation generator for a time ranging from 300s to 900s), cooling and extraction of the composite material. The invention, patented by UNIFI both for the material and way of production, has many strengths: versatility of the material in terms of shapes (flat, angular, etc.) and densities, low cost both of the producing material and the production process (i.e., the procedure will be carried out without the use of water); high sustainability (at the end of its life cycle, the product can be used as mulch). The use of this new product may reduce the costs for disposal of packaging and particularly a substantial modification in the ways of packaging, able to change the social habits, reduce the waste significantly and generally the human impact, with huge economic, ecological and environmental benefits.