VALENCIA, 29 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Plastics Technology Institute (Aimplas) has developed more than 2,000 more sustainable and durable bags for food and basic necessities for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), as reported by this research center in a statement.
Thus, he detailed that these new bags have been created from the incorporation of additives in multilayer structures based on raffia textile that extend the useful life of the bag and make it more sustainable thanks to the incorporation of, in some cases, recycled material.
This action is part of a project, financed by Innovation Norway and led by the ICRC together with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the UN World Food Program (WFP), which seeks to investigate alternatives and solutions innovations for woven polypropylene bags used for packaging food and relief items.
The project is managed by dss, a sustainability consultancy, and is governed by a Steering Committee made up of the three humanitarian organisations, Innovation Norway and the Norwegian Red Cross.
Aimplas has contributed to this initiative with the design of a multilayer structure based on polypropylene in which previously evaluated formulations have been incorporated that aim to improve the performance of the bags.
These developments have been implemented in more than 1,500 bags for the transport of wheat and bean flour and allow the degradation of the bag to be delayed due to exposure to environmental factors, in some extreme cases.
In addition, the technology center has formulated a second coating that incorporates recycled material that has been applied to 500 more bags that will contain blankets.
These humanitarian aid packaging will be integrated into three supply chains selected by the organizations involved for field testing “in diverse, changing environments and in the challenging context of humanitarian work.” Thus, it is planned that the bags designed by Aimplas will be destined for Cameroon, India and Turkey.
Also participating in this project is AUST, a textile university in Bangladesh that has proposed developing a jute bag with a biopolymer coating; and Giotto
The project consortium will also carry out a life cycle assessment of polypropylene bags and their alternatives in field tests, in order to capture the reality on the ground and compare the new solutions with the original bags in the most realistic context. possible, added Aimplas.
The Technological Institute of Plastics has expressed its “double commitment” to “provide value to companies so that they create wealth and quality employment” and “respond to social challenges to improve the quality of life of people and guarantee environmental sustainability “.
Aimplas is a non-profit entity belonging to the Network of Technological Institutes of the Valencian Community, REDIT, and offers companies in the plastics sector “comprehensive and personalized solutions”: from R&D projects to training and competitive and strategic intelligence services, including other technological services such as analysis and testing or technical advice.
The center has also highlighted that it supports the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations Global Compact through the exercise of its activity and its social responsibility.
