Codipac - a hygienic, reusable packaging solution designed to replace disposable plastics in grocery supplies.

将废物的减少、再利用、再循环的层次结构应用于食品包装是具有挑战性的。减少将导致更短的保质期和更大的食物浪费，其影响比减少包装更严重。目前，46.2%的食品包装被回收利用，其余的被焚烧、填埋或出口。由于对卫生的担忧，几乎没有食品包装被重复使用。重复使用的包装需要在用户之间进行灭菌，以使消费者能够接受。高温清洗或化学灭菌对环境的影响意味着重复使用食品包装是无益的。科迪科特开发了一种名为Cydal的新型抗菌技术。这可以作为表面涂层应用于许多材料，并杀死病毒或细菌。我们已经证明，用Cydal处理的材料对人类来说是安全的。在这个项目中，我们将开发含有Cydal的新食品包装材料。我们将设计适合杂货配送的容器。我们将与超市和消费者合作，看看如何用可重复使用的替代品取代目前的食品包装。我们将确定用户之间需要清洗多少次，以防止细菌或病毒在用户之间传播。我们还将确定包装可以安全使用多少次，并设计一个系统来指示何时需要更换。我们还将计算我们的新食品包装对环境有多大的好处。一旦我们完成了这个项目，我们有两个超市对使用我们的技术有浓厚的兴趣。

It is challenging to apply the waste hierarchy of _reduce, reuse, recycle_ to food packaging. Reduction would lead to shorter shelf life and greater food waste, with worse impact than the reduction in packaging. 46.2% of food packaging is currently recycled, with the remainder incinerated, buried in landfill or exported with unknown fate. Virtually no food packaging is re-used, due to concerns around hygiene. Re-used packaging requires sterilisation between users to be acceptable to consumers. The environmental impact of high temperature washing or chemical sterilisation means it is not beneficial to re-use food packaging.CodiKoat have developed novel antimicrobial technology called Cydal. This can be applied as a surface coating to many materials and kills viruses or bacteria. We have already shown that materials treated with Cydal are safe for humans to handle. In this project, we will develop new food packaging materials that contain Cydal. We will design containers suitable for use in grocery delivery. We will work with supermarkets and consumers to see how we could replace current food packaging with our re-usable alternative. We will determine how much washing is needed between users to prevent bacteria or viruses being passed between users. We will also determine how many times packaging can be used safely and design a system to indicate when it needs replacing. We will also calculate how much better for the environment our new food packaging could be. We have strong interest from two supermarkets to use our technology once we have completed this project.