Sustainable packaging from plants

Product packaging is a multi-million euro industry, but remains unsustainable. The need for sustainable packaging can be addressed by developing biodegradable products derived from plants such as hemp and flax.

FLHEA (Flax and hemp advanced fiber based composites) is an EU-funded project investigating the use of these two plants as sustainable source material for improved packaging. The focus is to evaluate and improve the properties of hemp and flax composites.

Researchers characterised the properties of composite materials made from plant fibres, but further improvements are needed to ensure an adequate biodegradable material for final use.

They found that flax was the best source of fibre due to its higher cellulose content. Researchers also managed to improve the cellulose yield of flax by more than 20 % compared to hemp.

This project will contribute to the development and use of biodegradable material for packaging purposes. Furthermore, developing these materials from sustainable plants may improve the economy and reduce the environmental costs of packaging.