CIDETEC and ACUDAM visit Tecnopackaging to witness the casting process with materials of the UNLOCK project

Tecnopackaging received the visit of CIDETEC, coordinators of the UNLOCK project, as well as representatives of the company ACUDAM, who will lead the final validation of the prototypes of quilted films and seedbeds developed within the framework of the project.

During the tour of Tecnopackaging, the CIDETEC and ACUDAM teams had the opportunity to witness live the casting extrusion process that Tecnopackaging is carrying out with the new UNLOCK materials. This material will be used to launch a new range of biodegradable products for the agricultural sector made from keratin extracted from poultry feathers and bioplastics. This combination of materials, developed by BIOMI and CIDETEC, will also favor the enrichment of the soil with nitrogen from the keratin once the material biodegrades in natural environments.

In addition, the members of the UNLOCK consortium studied the different geometries of the molds, as well as those properties that could optimize the final product. In order to observe the behavior of the material and the dispersion of the feather additives in the sheets, different mold depths, different mold manufacturing methods and the possibility of incorporating cooling processes were considered. In this sense, metrics of stretching, stiffness, and sheet thickness were carried out. Also, among other parameters, the ideal temperature for the extrusion process or the heating time of the resulting sheets was discussed.