Development of Verified Safe and Sustainable PFAS-Free Coatings for Food Packaging and Upholstery Textile Applications
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are widely used as functional coatings in food packaging and textiles due to their excellent water and oil repellency. However, PFAS are recognized as persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic, and are facing increasing regulatory restrictions across Europe. The industry urgently needs viable, commercially competitive alternatives, yet no validated safe and sustainable substitutes currently exist at scale.
ZeroF develops Safe-and-Sustainable-by-Design (SSbD) coating alternatives to replace PFAS compounds in two high-impact value chains: food packaging and upholstery textiles. Two novel chemistries are at the core: cellulose fatty acid esters for food packaging and silane-based organic-inorganic hybrid coatings for textiles. Developed coatings will have limited water absorption and high oil/grease resistance for packaging, and high water/oil repellency for textiles — all from renewable, non-toxic feedstocks remaining within 20% cost increase of current PFAS-based solutions. Computational toxicology modelling is used to reduce in vitro testing, and a full SSbD analysis covering Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Life Cycle Cost (LCC), and Environmental Footprint is embedded throughout. LIST leads the SSbD methodological framework, regulatory mapping, LCA, in vitro testing and SSbD integration.
ZeroF targets >25% improvement in environmental impact compared to PFAS-based coatings. The SSbD models developed are designed to be transferable to sectors beyond the project scope. Outputs include validated, PFAS-free coating formulations ready for industrial adoption, a certification and regulatory roadmap, and standardization tools.
