ALGAE-BASED BIODEGRADABLE ECO-FRIENDLY FOOD PACKAGING DESIGN: A CASE-CONTROL STUDY WITH THERMOFORMING PROCESS

Abstract

One of the challenges currently facing the agrifood industry is the promotion of eco-design to reduce the environmental impact of agro-industrial products during their life cycle. This requires the design of new products or the redesign of existing ones, both in the choice of raw materials and in the design of the manufacturing process, including distribution, use, recovery or final disposal. The aim of the present study is to investigate the behaviour of the algae-based beta-material created by the thermoforming process, as well as to design the selected packaging for this study. The results provide important and relevant information for the design and development of sustainable packaging with the material still under development. Keywords: Packaging design; eco-friendly packaging; sustainability; thermoforming; algae-based material