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https://www.rutgers.edu/news/rutgers-scientist-develops-antimicrobial-plant-based-food-wrap-designed-replace-plastic>
"Aiming to produce environmentally friendly alternatives to plastic food wrap
and containers, a Rutgers scientist has developed a biodegradable, plant-based
coating that can be sprayed on foods, guarding against pathogenic and spoilage
microorganisms and transportation damage.
The scalable process could potentially reduce the adverse environmental impact
of plastic food packaging as well as protect human health.
“We knew we needed to get rid of the petroleum-based food packaging that is out
there and replace it with something more sustainable, biodegradable and
nontoxic,” said Philip Demokritou, director of the Nanoscience and Advanced
Materials Research Center, and the Henry Rutgers Chair in Nanoscience and
Environmental Bioengineering at the Rutgers School of Public Health and
Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute. “And we asked
ourselves at the same time, ‘Can we design food packaging with a functionality
to extend shelf life and reduce food waste while enhancing food safety?’’’
Demokritou added, “And what we have come up with is a scalable technology,
which enables us to turn biopolymers, which can be derived as part of a
circular economy from food waste, into smart fibers that can wrap food
directly. This is part of new generation, ‘smart’ and ‘green’ food packaging.”
The research was conducted in concert with scientists at Harvard University and
funded by the Harvard-Nanyang Technological University/Singapore Sustainable
Nanotechnology Initiative."
Via Wayne Radinsky, who wrote "That sounds like a good idea. My food all comes
in plastic."
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
