BACTINT

Research and development of active varnishes and smart inks for packaging functional printing

Objectives

To develop inks which indicate the presence of oxygen and can be printed directly onto flexible packaging, thus improving the monitoring of food quality.

Description

BACTINT has developed functional varnishes and inks based on hybrid and conductive polymers, respectively, for the food packaging sector. It also provides solutions that add value to the active and smart packaging sector by using MOFs as a molecular adsorber and by developing indicators that detect possible pores in packaging.

BACTINT has resulted in:

I. The use of conductive inks which do not have heavy metals in them (less contaminating).

II. The extension of the shelf life of packaged food, increasing the products’ life cycle and therefore contributing to reduce the percentage of food waste.

III. Maintaining the food’s sensory and nutritional properties for a longer period of time.

IV. The development of simpler, cheaper functional packaging.

V. Reducing the use of food packaging materials and therefore generating less packaging waste.

VI. Making food packaging more user-friendly.