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6.1 Introduction
The main purpose of food packaging is to create a protective barrier against the
transfer of moisture, water vapor and gases (O 2 , CO 2 and ethylene), protecting food
against contamination from the storage environment, and in turn providing information about the ingredients, expiration date and other commercial information about
the company which helps advertising for consumers, therefore, it has a communication function that allows traceability and safe disposed after use (Marsh and Bugusu
2007; Robertson 2013; Álvarez et al. 2017). In the early times, natural materials
such as plant leaves, earthen pots, gourds and baskets were used for food preservation and storage (Risch 2009; Suárez and Gutiérrez 2017). Industrial revolutions
and the increases in the rates of mass food production has helped improve packaging materials and technology, such as tin cans, glass bottles and jars, paper/board
boxes, flexible plastic packaging, retort pouches are evolved, and today 100% biodegradable packaging materials from natural biomasses are replacing the current
alternatives from non-renewable resources and unsustainable technologies (Brody
et al. 2008; Gutiérrez 2018a).
According to the statistics published by European Bioplastics Organization
(2018), 1200 kilotons of total bioplastics were assigned to biobased/nonbiodegradable sources, while biodegradable plastics correspond to 912 kilotons of
the total bioplastics produced. The largest market share of biobased nonbiodegradable plastics belongs to polyethylene terephthalate (PET, 26.6%), and the
largest amount of biodegradable bioplastics belongs to starch mixtures (18.2%) and
polylactic acid (PLA, 10.3%). However, the current values of bioplastics only correspond to 1% of total plastic production. Their projections, which include 2023,
shows that the market shares of bioplastics increase linearly and will reach to 1288
kilotons for biodegradable bioplastics and 1328 kilotons for biobased nonbiodegradable ones.
Recently, global food companies are setting targets for the conversion available
to 100% recyclable plastic packaging by 2025 as a contribution to the circular economy, and even some of their products currently on shelves are already become biodegradable sources and natural biomass. The food industry has also focused on the
development of biobased packaging materials that have active properties to preserve
and extend the shelf life of food products (Gutiérrez et al. 2017a; Álvarez et al.
2018). However, biobased films have inherent disadvantages, such as poor water
vapor barriers and high moisture sensitivity which also affect their mechanical
properties (Gutiérrez et al. 2016a, b; Herniou--Julien et al. 2019). It is thus required
to improve the performance of biopolymers in terms of their mechanical, barrier
and thermal properties, as well as processability to replace traditional polymer
(Gutiérrez 2018b,c,d). In general, the use of small amounts of nano-fillers has
proven effective in improving the barrier and mechanical properties of biopolymers
to form films and coatings with satisfactory properties (Khan et al. 2014; ToroMárquez et al. 2018; Gutiérrez et al. 2019). The most recent approaches include
biobased plastics with nanoparticles (NPs) and functional biobased active layers
H. Cakmak and E. Sogut
6.1 Introduction
The main purpose of food packaging is to create a protective barrier against the
transfer of moisture, water vapor and gases (O 2 , CO 2 and ethylene), protecting food
against contamination from the storage environment, and in turn providing information about the ingredients, expiration date and other commercial information about
the company which helps advertising for consumers, therefore, it has a communication function that allows traceability and safe disposed after use (Marsh and Bugusu
2007; Robertson 2013; Álvarez et al. 2017). In the early times, natural materials
such as plant leaves, earthen pots, gourds and baskets were used for food preservation and storage (Risch 2009; Suárez and Gutiérrez 2017). Industrial revolutions
and the increases in the rates of mass food production has helped improve packaging materials and technology, such as tin cans, glass bottles and jars, paper/board
boxes, flexible plastic packaging, retort pouches are evolved, and today 100% biodegradable packaging materials from natural biomasses are replacing the current
alternatives from non-renewable resources and unsustainable technologies (Brody
et al. 2008; Gutiérrez 2018a).
According to the statistics published by European Bioplastics Organization
(2018), 1200 kilotons of total bioplastics were assigned to biobased/nonbiodegradable sources, while biodegradable plastics correspond to 912 kilotons of
the total bioplastics produced. The largest market share of biobased nonbiodegradable plastics belongs to polyethylene terephthalate (PET, 26.6%), and the
largest amount of biodegradable bioplastics belongs to starch mixtures (18.2%) and
polylactic acid (PLA, 10.3%). However, the current values of bioplastics only correspond to 1% of total plastic production. Their projections, which include 2023,
shows that the market shares of bioplastics increase linearly and will reach to 1288
kilotons for biodegradable bioplastics and 1328 kilotons for biobased nonbiodegradable ones.
Recently, global food companies are setting targets for the conversion available
to 100% recyclable plastic packaging by 2025 as a contribution to the circular economy, and even some of their products currently on shelves are already become biodegradable sources and natural biomass. The food industry has also focused on the
development of biobased packaging materials that have active properties to preserve
and extend the shelf life of food products (Gutiérrez et al. 2017a; Álvarez et al.
2018). However, biobased films have inherent disadvantages, such as poor water
vapor barriers and high moisture sensitivity which also affect their mechanical
properties (Gutiérrez et al. 2016a, b; Herniou--Julien et al. 2019). It is thus required
to improve the performance of biopolymers in terms of their mechanical, barrier
and thermal properties, as well as processability to replace traditional polymer
(Gutiérrez 2018b,c,d). In general, the use of small amounts of nano-fillers has
proven effective in improving the barrier and mechanical properties of biopolymers
to form films and coatings with satisfactory properties (Khan et al. 2014; ToroMárquez et al. 2018; Gutiérrez et al. 2019). The most recent approaches include
biobased plastics with nanoparticles (NPs) and functional biobased active layers
H. Cakmak and E. Sogut