Monomaterial and dispersion coated functional packaging films

The global climate crisis, depletion of fossil resources, and plastic pollution are driving the search for renewable and recyclable alternatives for plastic films and sheets. These materials are used e.g. in packaging, construction, and agriculture. In 2021, 44% of the 390 Mt of plastics produced were for packaging, which often has a short life cycle and high environmental impact. Packaging materials are typically multilayer structures which are hard, if not currently impossible, to recycle. In construction, plastic films serve as e.g. water vapor barriers and temporary protection, while plastic sheets are used for functional or decorative purposes. Their service life varies, and they are often composite materials, making recycling difficult. In agriculture, plastic films like mulch films help to modify soil temperature, retain moisture, limit weed growth, and improve crop yield, but are hard to remove from soil and degrade slowly and there is the risk of microplastics.
Challenge with traditional plastic films and sheets is that they are either made from finite raw materials be it fossil-based raw materials or biobased alternatives that are lacking in supply. This makes resource efficiency extremely important, but simultaneously most films and sheets are extreme hard to recycle due to use of multiple materials in a single structure. Products made from mono-materials are easy to recycle, but often lack in properties compared to multilateral counterparts. Also, with bio-based materials the challenge is that they often lack the required properties compared to their fossil counterparts. MonoDisCo addresses the beforementioned challenges by enhancing recyclability while promoting excellent product properties in mono-material solutions especially when being biobased.