Horizon Europe Redysign Project: Resource-efficient processes for the production and circularization of innovative, recyclable, smart packaging for fresh meat from wood.

Thanks to the development and implementation of several innovative technologies that focus heavily on the efficient use of energy, water, and chemicals, a complex and ubiquitous multi-material product—fresh meat packaging consumed by millions of people every day—will be completely redesigned to be fully bio-based, smart, and recyclable in conventional paper recycling mills.

To achieve such a remarkable goal, each intermediate product contained in this complex product—namely, the tray, barrier liner, absorbent pad, and transparent film—will be made almost exclusively of wood components (fibers, micronanofibers, lignin, and sugars, which have been chemically or enzymatically modified) and will be integrated with two food quality sensors (rot and cold chain).

Finally, several innovations will be introduced into existing recycling stages, both aimed at increasing overall process efficiency: incorporation of specific identification markers to enable accurate sorting of biocontaminated products, advanced oxidation treatments to sanitize and reduce process energy consumption, and chemoenzymatic revaluation of recalcitrant fractions.