German-Indian project meeting on sustainable packaging

As part of the Indo-German BIOMOPAC* project, researchers from the Chair of Wood Technology and Wood-based Bioeconomy and the Institute of Waste Management and Circular Economy met with their partners at the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee. The project, which is funded by the Indo-German Science and Technology Center (IGSTC), is developing fully recyclable packaging from agricultural waste. The meeting focused on coordinating the next development steps as well as discussions on long-term cooperation between science and industry in both countries.

© V. Rastogi │ IITR

BIOMOPAC is developing bio-based, fully recyclable packaging to create a fossil-free alternative to conventional products. The team processes agricultural residues, which are often incinerated in India, into stable molded products using an energy-efficient fiber casting process. It uses microfibrillated cellulose as a natural barrier against grease and moisture - without fossil additives and still recyclable. At the same time, the researchers are analyzing the environmental impact and developing pulping processes with a high fiber yield in order to use raw materials efficiently.

The Chair of Wood Technology and Wood-based Bioeconomy, headed by Prof. Alexander Pfriem, has been coordinating the project since September 2024. The TUD team led by Dr. Roland Zelm as Principle Investigator (PI) is developing fiber pulping processes for the residual materials, developing PFAS-free barriers and integrating a spray application into the fiber casting process. Together with the partners, it is testing the processes and preparing for industrial scaling. A material catalog, pulping concepts with a fiber yield of over 80 percent and a laboratory fiber casting plant have already been developed. The first demonstrators prove the great potential of the technology.

BIOMOPAC is part of the IGSTC 2+2 funding format, which networks one research and one industrial partner per country. In Germany, TU Dresden and Bionatic GmbH & Co. KG are working together, in India IIT Roorkee and Parason Machinery. The project will run until summer 2027.

BIOMOPAC combines innovation, circular economy and international research. The cooperation between Dresden and India in the field of pulp & paper has already existed for over 15 years and will be further strengthened by the project.

Contact:

René Kleinert, Dipl.-Ing.
Research Associate, Head of Paper Technology Laboratory
Chair of Wood Technology and Wood-based Bioeconomy

+49 351 463-38014

* Bio-based functional cast fiber packaging from regionally produced agricultural residues