Cilkoa develops plastic-free packaging

Grenoble INP - UGA plays an essential role in the innovation fabric of the local ecosystem, alongside the national research organisations also present in the region, and entities working in transferring, developing and incubating business projects, such as SATT Linksium.
Romain Lecot Research laboratories led jointly with the CNRS and UGA are a rich source of innovation. Cilkoa was created in June 2022 and is a perfect example of this.
Born of the encounter between two key industries in Grenoble (microelectronics and paper), the project was incubated at Linksium (of which Grenoble INP - UGA is a founding member), and aims to offer an ecological alternative to plastic in order to make the packaging industry more sustainable.
Cilkoa combines the expertise of LGP2* and SIMaP** and has developed a ceramic-based surface treatment at the scale of just a few atomic layers to give paper, cardboard and other moulded cellulose products excellent water resistance and oxygen and water vapour barrier properties. The material is composed of 99.9% cellulose and is fully recyclable, biodegradable and compostable. “We started working with Linksium during the project’s incubation phase, six months before the creation of the start-up”, says Romain Lecot, CEO of Cilkoa. “In addition to providing premises, Grenoble INP - UGA, through SATT, gave us an exclusive licence to use the patented process”.
Hosted by SIMaP, where they have access to offices and to cutting-edge technology, the start-up is continuing to develop the process in collaboration with the two laboratories from which the company originated. Soon, the start-up plans to move to its own premises in Montbonnot, where the team aim to put in place an industrial demonstrator.

*Process Engineering Laboratory for Biorefinery, Bio-Based Materials and Functional Printing (CNRS, UGA, Grenoble INP - UGA)
** Science and Materials and Processes Engineering Laboratory (CNRS, UGA, Grenoble INP - UGA)