The Spanish BIOVEGE project has resulted in new biodegradable films and nets for horticultural products, as well as food colourants and additives from waste products from the fields of Almería.

In Andalusia, about 500,000 tons of fruit and vegetable by-products are produced that cannot be recovered, so they are landfilled. From this waste, the BIOVEGE project has made possible the extraction of substances of high value for the packaging and food industry.

Here are some elements developed from sugars obtained from melons and watermelons:

-Different biodegradable films with a thickness of 23 µm to be used as shrink film for packaging cucumbers and the manufacturing of bags for weighing all kinds of agricultural products.

-Biodegradable nets for packaging different agricultural products, and nets for garlic and green beans.

Packagingeurope.com explains how the technical part of the project has been led by AIMPLAS. Other research centres have also been participating: Tecnalia, Cidaf and Las Palmerillas Fundación Cajamar. Moreover, the project is funded by the Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI) through the ERDF Innterconecta 2015 programme.