(Bio)Degradable Packaging Materials

Dear Colleagues,

For a long time, the packaging industry has relied heavily on the use of fossil-derived plastic materials to create single-use, inexpensive solutions. Against a background of concerns about omnipresent and persistent plastic pollution and the associated environmental degradation and socioeconomic costs as well as the depletion of nonrenewable raw materials and energy, laws and regulations on this matter have been formed or changed, and the market is changing in favor of sustainable alternatives.  

Ideal packaging has a lower carbon footprint, the ability to (bio)degrade or be composted, makes use of byproducts or waste products as raw materials, and is safe and adequately eco-designed. (Bio)degradability/compostability remain important end-of-life paths, particularly when recycling is no longer technically feasible.

This Special Issue aims to present a collection of original research articles and reviews focused on alternative sustainable, (bio)degradable solutions to conventional plastic packaging. In particular, topics of interest include (but are not limited to):

• New technologies for improved (bio)degradation of plastics;
• The design, synthesis, and production of packaging materials that (bio)degrade at a controlled rate (including bio-based polymers, copolymers, composites, and blends);
• (Bio)degradable/compostable plastic packaging from second-generation feedstocks;
• Active and intelligent (bio)degradable/ compostable plastic packaging;
• Safety assessment of packaging materials for pharmaceutical and food products;
• Life-cycle analysis studies

 

Prof. Dr. Assunta Marrocchi
Guest Editor

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