The IATA Packaging Group, which is part of SusPlast, has been offering new units since 2023 to perform scientific-technical services:
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BIODEGRADABILITY AND COMPOSTABILITY OF MATERIALS UNIT (MATBIO)
Since 2023, the MATBIO unit (Biodegradability and Compostability of Materials) has offered scientific-technical services for biodegradation in different media (soil, compost, aqueous/marine) and compostability (according to EN 13432 standard) of materials, mainly those from biomass and/or intended for the replacement of single-use plastic materials.
The MATBIO Unit is part of the Packaging Group of the Food Safety and Preservation area at the Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology (IATA-CSIC), in Paterna (Valencia).
The service offering is intended for both CSIC centers and external clients from other public research organizations and private companies, and it is expected that, over the next few years, new services will be incorporated into the catalogue.
The services offered are framed within the following lines:
- BIODEGRADATION TESTS: In half compost.
- BIODEGRADATION TESTS: In half soil.
- LABORATORY SCALE DISINTEGRATION TESTS (Qualitative): In normalized medium.
- COMPOSTABILITY TEST: Characterization of materials (identification, heavy metals, volatile solids), biodegradability (industrial conditions or home compost), disintegration (quantitative and qualitative) and ecotoxicity (in higher plants).
- BIODEGRADATION TESTS: In marine/aqueous environment COMING SOON.
In addition to the scientific-technical services included in the catalogue, the MATBIO Unit offers technical assistance in the verification of the formulation(s) created to centers and companies, and the possibility of carrying out collaborative, personalized and tailored projects.
You can find more information and download their dossier on their website: PRESS HERE
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MATERIALS AND PACKAGING PROCESSING AND CHARACTERIZATION UNIT (MATPRO)
Since 2023, the MATPRO unit (Processing and Characterization of Materials and Packaging) has offered scientific-technical services related to processing, composition analysis and characterization of physical-chemical properties of materials, mainly those from biomass and/or intended for use in food packaging applications (polymers and biopolymers).
The MATPRO Unit is located at the Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology (IATA-CSIC), in Paterna (Valencia), forming part of the Packaging Group in the Food Safety and Conservation area.
The service offering is intended for both CSIC centers and external clients from other public research organizations and private companies, and it is expected that, over the next few years, new services will be incorporated into the catalogue.
In addition to the scientific-technical services included in the catalogue, the MATPRO Unit offers R&D&I advice to centers and companies, and the possibility of carrying out collaborative, personalized and tailored developments, within the following areas:
- Biomass processing, including agri-food waste and especially those mainly composed of cellulose and other carbohydrates: granulometric analysis, particle size reduction, chemical/enzymatic digestion, extraction of compounds of interest.
- Processing and transformation of plastic materials and in particular for those intended for food packaging applications. Preparation of thermoplastic composites by melt mixing and films/specimens by lamination/pressing/injection. Thermoforming, heat sealing and vacuum/modified atmosphere packaging, and coating application.
- Characterization of material properties, focusing on those from biomass and also thermoplastics and biopolymers for packaging: surface properties, transport (permeability to water and oxygen), thermal (TGA, DSC), mechanical (traction, compression), viscoelastic properties , rheological, optical and antimicrobial capacity.
- Composition analysis of biomass, biomass extracts and polymeric materials: Infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), humidity/volatiles, ash, carbohydrates, lipids and lignin (soluble and insoluble), in addition to global/specific migration and antioxidant capacity tests (polyphenol content).
You can find more information and download their dossier on their website:: PRESS HERE
Image of the new units