The food contact resins from the Cardia Biohybrid technology were recently confirmed complaint with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) standards and EU regulations.
The company develops and manufactures resins and products derived from renewable resources, and operates in the flexible film, injection and blow moulding, foam, extrusion and coating sectors.
Mono- and multi-layer films, injection and blow moulding products have already been validated for compliance, said the Australia-based firm.
The technology combines renewable thermoplastics with polyolefin material to reduce dependence on finite oil resources and carbon footprint.
Target sectors
The firm is targeting closures and containers in the food industry and meat packaging trays and wrap as key packaging sectors.
Dr Frank Glatz, managing director at Cardia, told FoodProductionDaily.com the firm had been keen to break into the food packaging industry as it is the “largest packaging application there is.”
“Not a lot of bio-plastics producers’ offer fully recyclable and food contact qualities because of the statutory requirements.
“Our product lowers the carbon footprint because it is made with the use of less oil in packaging but we can still provide high product performance benefit,” he added.
“The recyclability, high performance and cost competiveness make it a viable alternative to the packaging market.
“We worked with the UK recycling association in all recycling streams to make sure there is no negative impact.”
Partnerships
In late 2010, Cardia announced a partnership with Nestlé to reduce the environmental impact of the global giants packaging.
Glatz said more market launch announcements may happen in the next few weeks.
He added: “It is a long process, as our products have been rigourously tested and we have gone from the first meeting, to laboratory testing on performance but for some of our product applications, we are in the final validation stages and are well-advanced down the track.”