BioMide - bio produced nylon to enable recyclable mulitlayer film packaging

Flexible plastic packaging (films) is currently in the most part unrecyclable, mainly due to the multi layer construction of films, in order to retain barrier properties to keep food fresh. One of the main components used is a nylon (PA) material which acts as a gas barrier, sandwiched between Polyethylene (PE). While this PA layer helps reduce food waste (extending food life from 3 days to up-to 26 days), it also renders the film unrecyclable.

PA is also produced from a fossil fuel sources, and requires precurrosor chemicals such as adipic acid which are highly polluting, with large amounts of CO2 and N02 produced as a result.

Impact have identified a method to develop a bioNylon - BioMide - from algae. The material is produced from a bio, renewable source, and able to be grown in bioreactors negating the need to displace agricultural land. Unlike traditional bio processes there is no fermentation requirement and the process is therefore carbon negative. The material produced has the same properties as conventional PA, with the added benefit that they can be biodegraded during the current recycling process, allowing a multi layer PE-PA film to be recycled in the same method as a single layer PE film.

This has the potential to not only offset large amounts of carbon released into the environment, but also make over 4Mt of unrecycled film easily and readily recyclable, without the need for any additional recycling infrastructure.