French company Lactips has developed an edible plastic made from the milk protein casein, claiming it has enormous potential for intelligent packaging in the food and beverage industry. Lactips makes thermoplastic pellets based on milk protein through an industrial process that can be used by clients as a raw material for thermoforming, film or any kind of plastic applications.
Marie-Hélène Gramatikoff, CEO of Lactips, said that chemical packaging has historically had a negative impact on the environment.
“There are approximately 300 million waste chemical bags disposed of each year, and many tons of left over chemicals are ending up in our landfill sites and entering our waterways,” said Gramatikoff. “At Lactips we produce revolutionary bio plastic pellets which can be transformed into water soluble film. Our product offers the best dissolution in hot and cold water and it’s totally biodegradable, compared to actual films that leave chemical residues in the environment.”
Lactips’ bioplastic film is totally biodegradable within 18 days and can be used as home compost.
