Verpacktes Leben – Verpackte Technik, Bionik der Verpackung

Verpacktes Leben – Verpackte Technik
Bionik der Verpackung

Küppers, U., Tributsch, H,
Wiley-VCH Verlag , Weinheim, (2002), 256 pages
ISBN 3-527-30443-6

Mankind has significant problems with the handling and recycling of packages and packing materials, while nature appears to deal with such technologies well. This is why nature is quite selective in choosing packaging materials. Few environmentally very favorable materials such as cellulose, chitin and keratin are applied in nature and their function is optimized by micro- and nano-structuring as well as by addition of selected chemicals. In addition inorganic materials like silica, calcium carbonate and hydroxyapatite are applied, combined with organic substances. The book explaines many interesting examples of packaging in nature and discusses, how we could learn from them and from nature’s strategy in general.