Singapore’s Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE) has signed an agreement with industry partners to develop and test a new packaging material from it for food industry use.
The partners include Mitsui Chemicals Asia Pacific, Ltd (Japan), Toyo Ink SC Holdings Co., Ltd (Japan), Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd (Japan), Piaget Chemicals & Manufacturing Pte Ltd (Singapore) and Dou Yee Enterprises (S) Pte Ltd (Singapore).
The companies are part of the IMRE-led Industrial Coatings and Packaging (ICAP) consortium.
IMRE is the research institute of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research or A*STAR.
Metallized plastic packaging material is commonly used for potato chip bags and chocolate wrappers to significantly extend the shelf-life of perishables.
“We want to develop a protective plastic that is as effective as metallized plastic films that are currently in the market, but with 20% cost savings,” says Dr Li Xu, the principal scientist leading the research and development.
“Improvements to mundane materials like the plastic wrapping in your local supermarket are often taken for granted but technology proves that such innovations could significantly change the world we live in,” said Prof Andy Hor, executive director of IMRE.
“Our new material will help reduce food wastage considerably, and allow consumers to more accurately identify when food actually spoils.”
The new packaging material can be customized for different foods or products, and can be coupled with other IMRE innovations to produce ‘smart’ packaging.
For example, it has developed a sensor strip which detects minute chemical concentrations associated with the freshness of meat, fish or poultry to give a more accurate indication of food spoilage and expiration.
In the US, Natural Resources Defense Council estimates that arbitrary expiry dates and ‘food freshness’ labels may have also been responsible for premature food disposal by more than 90% of consumers in the country.
The newly developed packing plastic incorporates nanotechnology based on non-toxic ferric compounds.
The plastic also has a dual purpose high-barrier plate silicate sheet, which effectively blocks moisture and oxygen from seeping into the packaging, and scavenges oxygen to create an anaerobic environment that makes perishables last longer than they would in regular plastic packaging.
The technology, which was launched on 17 November 2014 as part of the second phase of the ICAP consortium, will further explore, develop, advance and test new materials for food packaging.
The researchers at IMRE are also working to adapt the packaging material to applications in other areas like electronics and medical packaging.
