A year since Amcor announced an initiative to partner with and offer seed funding to startups, the company has begun a new joint research collaboration assessing oxygen barriers with Canadian advanced material company Nfinite Nanotechnology.
The proof-of-concept phase of the project seeks to add an oxygen barrier to “improve performance” for compostable or recyclable packaging, which can often be paper-based, and for which high barrier properties can be harder to achieve, according to Amcor.
Nfinite’s technology could potentially replace vacuum deposition methods for aluminum oxide or silicium oxide, according to Frank Lehmann, Amcor’s vice president of corporate venturing and open innovation. Nfinite is focusing on adding an additional barrier on existing materials inside of packaging and in direct contact with the content, according to Amcor. Nfinite’s process produces ultrathin nanocoatings that are applied without a vacuum, in open air, and at high speeds, which could make them a potentially more cost-effective option.
“Once validated, the next stage of development will seek to ensure the products are optimized to Amcor’s manufacturing processes and analyze additional substrates, such as bio-based materials to create more sustainable applications,” the announcement states.
On April 6, 2022, Amcor announced its Lift-Off program, “an open-call initiative aimed at supporting seed stage start-ups that are focused on innovative packaging solutions and related technologies.” Five months later, Amcor named Nfinite — along with Bloom Biorenewables, which converts plant waste into chemicals used in packaging — as recipients of $250,000 each through the program’s inaugural round.
“We’re very pleased to have Amcor’s support in advancing our ambitions to deliver this nanocoating technology in packaging applications. Once scaled up, we can begin looking for pilot companies eager to leverage this technology,” said Nfinite CEO Chee Hau Teoh in a March 22 press release.
A third startup — circolution, which is focusing on smart reusable food packaging — was named a Lift-Off winner in February. Amcor has screened over 1,000 startups during the past two years, according to Lehmann.
The company plans to have two or three Lift-Off initiatives each year and encourages startups to apply. The company’s priority areas for innovation are:
- Biomaterials: Sustainable alternatives for partial or complete substitution of currently used materials
- Barriers & processes: Alternative barrier technologies for sustainable solutions, such as biomaterials or paper
- Paper: Fiber- and paper-based applications for “superior consumer and customer acceptance”
- Recycling: Circular economy and valorization of plastic waste, such as through mechanical or chemical recycling
- Smart packaging: Customer and consumer packaging applications, such as consumer engagement, personalization or supply chain monitoring
- Business models: New packaging technologies and digital enablers
Lehmann, who previously held innovation roles at Nestlé, said that as important as it is to think ahead of the curve, it’s also crucial to have the internal capacity to be able to scale up technologies.
Amcor recently invested $3 million in Swedish dry-molded fiber developer PulPac. A $45 million investment announced in September went to ePac Flexible Packaging for short run digitally based flexible packaging. Another was $5 million in series C funding in January 2022 to PragmatIC Semiconductor, whose flexible, integrated circuits can enable smart packaging applications.
