A new plastic coating no more than 20 nanometers think applied to the inside of plastic bottles and jars of common items like ketchup and mayonnaise could significantly reduce consumer waste and ease recycling of the container itself.
How often do consumers discard bottles of commonly used household condiments with some of the product still remaining in the jar? Often and sometimes as much as 20 percent of the product is left in the bottle because it is difficult to get out.
Furthermore consumers are often unable to recycle plastic bottles or jars because they aren't able to adequately clean them for recycling. Many communities will not accept plastic bottles that aren't properly cleaned out.
German researchers in a joint project involving the Fraunhofer Institutes for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV in Freising and for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB in Stuttgart, together with Munich University of Technology and various industrial partners are working on developing packaging materials that reduce left-over traces to half or less.
While the interior films are still in a prototype stage they do represent an interesting glimpse into things to come in the packaging industry. Eco-friendly innovations in packaging can come from technological advances like this one.
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