Post by account_disabled on Mar 11, 2024 4:34:05 GMT -5
Has developed a new sustainable packaging material made from olive waste called olipast. This biodegradable and compostable plastic compound can be used to make products such as trays, plates and lids for containers designed for packaging olive oil. The two-year go-oliva project was launched Spain Mobile Number List in november 2019 with the aim of creating an eco-friendly and compostable material to be used for oil packaging. The project is a joint venture between spanish plastics technology company instituto tecnológico del plástica aimplas and olive oil cooperative olivarera de los pedroches (olipe). Spain is the main producer of olive oil and produces a significant amount of olive pit waste, a waste product of the olive pressing process. Project researchers investigated how to recycle waste and transform it into a new sustainable material.
Belén redondo, aimplas researcher, commented: the objective of this project is to create a new high added value application from olive waste through the development of new materials to produce sustainable packaging for olive oil related products. This waste was treated by energy recovery or incineration, until now. On the one hand, the raw materials are biodegradable polymeric matrices for the new compound, on the other, the olive pit must be treated to be incorporated into polymeric matrices. The olive pit is ground to obtain a micrometer particle size. As a plastic composite material, oliplast can be processed using the same extrusion and injection methods for plastic production, and transformed into sustainable packaging for olive oil-related products.
These include lids that can be used to pack containers intended for olive oil-based cosmetics or small plates that can be placed under a bottle of olive oil to prevent spills. The next stage of the go-oliva project, which runs until the end of 2021, is to conduct a behavioral study. This will be followed by an environmental study to examine the compostability of the new material. Redondo stated: the new material and final products will be characterized to analyze whether they meet all the necessary requirements for the final applications. Oliplast could be available within a year from the end of the project. The go-oliva project is co-financed by the spanish government and the european agricultural fund for rural development (eafrd) within the framework of the european innovation partnership (eip-agri).