ICIMENDUE SRL

Their core work

ICIMENDUE SRL is an Italian SME specializing in packaging materials technology, with hands-on expertise spanning both the development of new sustainable packaging and the recovery of complex packaging waste. In BioBarr, they contributed to creating bio-based food packaging films with enhanced barrier properties — the kind of materials that replace conventional plastics in food contact applications. In MERLIN, they pivoted to the harder problem of recycling multilayer packaging (the sachets and pouches made from bonded layers of PET, PE, and PP that are notoriously difficult to separate and recycle). Their work sits at the intersection of materials science and circular economy engineering.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

ICIMENDUE's trajectory within packaging follows the industry's own shift toward circular economy thinking. Their first project (BioBarr, 2017–2021) was about building better packaging — developing bio-based materials that could replace conventional barrier films in food applications, a topic driven by sustainability concerns about plastic use. By 2021, they had moved to the opposite end of the product lifecycle: how to actually recover and recycle the multilayer packaging that already exists in the waste stream, a problem that chemical recycling and delamination techniques address. This is a coherent evolution from "make it greener" to "close the loop on what's already out there."

ICIMENDUE is moving deeper into circular economy and waste recovery for complex packaging — a space with strong regulatory tailwinds from EU packaging regulations and growing industrial demand for recycling solutions for difficult multilayer materials.

How they like to work

ICIMENDUE has participated exclusively as a consortium partner, never as a project coordinator — a pattern consistent with a specialized SME that contributes defined technical expertise rather than leading consortium management. Their two projects each involved substantial consortia (they accumulated 25 unique partners across 9 countries from just two projects), suggesting they are comfortable operating in large, multi-national teams. There is no evidence of repeated partner relationships, which is expected given only two projects, but their BBI-RIA participation signals they can meet the rigorous technical standards required by the Bio-Based Industries Joint Undertaking.

With 25 unique consortium partners across 9 countries from only two projects, ICIMENDUE has built a disproportionately wide European network for its size. The geographic spread suggests integration into both food industry and waste/recycling research communities across multiple EU member states.

What sets them apart

ICIMENDUE occupies a rare position as an SME with direct experience in both ends of the sustainable packaging lifecycle — material innovation (bio-based barriers) and end-of-life recovery (multilayer recycling) — which gives them credibility with both packaging manufacturers and waste processors. Most packaging-focused SMEs specialize in either formulation or waste treatment, not both. For a consortium building a project around packaging circularity, ICIMENDUE can bridge the gap between product design and recyclability engineering.

Highlights from their portfolio

• BioBarr
  The larger and earlier of the two projects (EUR 635,000, BBI-funded), focused on developing bio-based packaging with barrier properties — a technically demanding area where bio-based materials historically underperform conventional plastics.
• MERLIN
  Addresses one of the hardest unsolved problems in packaging waste — recycling multilayer sachets and pouches — using chemical recycling and delamination, placing ICIMENDUE in a high-priority regulatory and commercial space.