Project Grant 20256701245006
- This $299,949 Project Grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program aims to develop sustainable, biodegradable food packaging alternatives to replace plastic. The University of Wisconsin-Madison will conduct research to characterize the effects of naturally-occurring bioplasticizers on protein film properties and identify how solvents and thermal processing impact protein...
- This $175,000 Project Grant award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program supports the development of Retrn Bioworks Inc.'s sustainable, biodegradable barrier coatings for fiber-based food packaging. The funding will enable Retrn Bio to genetically engineer its biological production platform to better utilize waste forest product residues, formulate various bioplastic compositions, and...
- This $299,954 federal Project Grant, awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program (CFDA 10.310), funds the development of a sustainable composite packaging material using natural fiber reinforcements and a water-soluble binding matrix. The project aims to create an eco-friendly, compostable, and low-carbon-footprint packaging solution to address the growing demand for...
- This $181,129 Project Grant awarded on September 15, 2025 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program (CFDA 10.212) supports the development of innovative biopolymer ingredients to improve the stability, shelf-life, and freshness of packaged food products. The awardee, Exopolymer, Inc., aims to develop biopolymer-based ingredients that can...
- This Project Grant award from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (CFDA 10.310) provides $120,000 to The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) to systematically evaluate novel non-BPA food can coatings using advanced materials characterization techniques. The goal is to elucidate interactions between food constituents and these novel coatings, develop accelerated screening methods, assess coating-food compatibility,...
- This SBIR Phase I project grant, awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), aims to enable the conversion of non-meltable, agriculturally derived polymers into usable products for the food packaging and commodity products industries. The $175,000 grant to Green Materials LLC will fund the development of a novel manufacturing process and machine component to produce compostable alternatives to non-biodegradable plastics. The project...
- This Project Grant award from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program (CFDA 10.310) provides $752,000.00 to fund a collaborative effort between Clemson University and North Carolina Central University (NCCU) to develop a novel antimicrobial food packaging technology. The project aims to create paint-like coating formulations containing food-safe carbon particles...
- The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a $111,777 Project Grant through their Integrative Activities program (CFDA 47.083) to the University of Mississippi to develop sustainable, bio-based alternatives to plastic packaging. The grant will fund research to impregnate cellulose-based packaging materials with functional, agricultural waste-derived compounds to improve barrier properties and end-of-life characteristics, providing a renewable substitute for plastic packaging. Key activities...
- This Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Integrative Activities program (CFDA 47.083) provides $118,143 to the University of Alabama to develop sustainable, functional paper-based packaging materials as an alternative to plastic. The project aims to improve the barrier properties of cellulose-based packaging by impregnating it with bio-derived compounds extracted from agricultural waste, using supercritical carbon dioxide technology. Key activities involve studying...
- The USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) awarded a $532,144 Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) project grant to Arizona State University Division - doing business as Orspa. The grant's objective is to develop an innovative solution to reduce environmentally harmful plastic waste from the use of label-based identifiers on food items. The project will research the creation of direct-to-object (DTO) identifiers based on food-safe materials that can be easily washed...
This Project Grant award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program (CFDA 10.310), provides $225,000.00 to Iowa State University of Science and Technology to develop new biodegradable coatings derived from glycerin, a waste product of biodiesel production, for use in food packaging. The project aims to create high-performance, moisture and gas barrier coatings that can be applied to biodegradable plastics like polylactic acid (PLA) and polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) to improve their food preservation capabilities and reduce reliance on petroleum-based packaging. The research, which has an ultimate completion date of August 31, 2027, will involve innovative methods to convert glycerin into specialized biopolymers and test their performance and compostability when applied as food packaging coatings.
Mod # | Description | ReasonForModification | Federal Obligation | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Not listed | $0 | 9/2/25 | ||
| Not listed | $225.0k | 8/20/25 |