As the quest to develop more environmentally sustainable alternatives to plastic food and beverage packaging presses on, manufacturers and researchers are persevering in the face of the biggest hurdle: achieving strong performance and functionality. With such stringent requirements to meet around ensuring food-grade packaging materials are fit for purpose, The Plant Base spoke to the experts about the path toward a planet-friendly packaging future.

Around the world, governments and businesses are increasingly pouring efforts into plastic reduction initiatives and eco-friendly design across the packaging landscape, in line with regulatory requirements and increased environmental awareness among both consumers and industry.

On the consumer end, people are becoming more savvy – particularly within the plant based food and beverage category, where many consumers’ purchasing choices are influenced by the desire to shrink their environmental footprint. This is prompting manufacturers and brands to rethink their packaging strategies.

“Brands are no longer looking solely for functional packaging, but also for solutions that communicate their sustainability values and create a positive consumer experience,” said Ferran Berga, UK director at packaging company Alzamora Group.

“There is growing demand for fibre-based materials, recyclable cartons, mono-material structures, and solutions designed to facilitate material separation and improve the actual recyclability of packaging. We are also seeing a clear focus on eco-design, optimising structures to reduce material usage without compromising strength, functionality or product protection.”

Enhancing fibre-based packaging

Fibre-based packaging, made from renewable and biodegradable plant fibre materials, is benefitting from significant attention and investment due to its potential as a more sustainable plastic alternative in many applications.

Industry players are striving to address its key performance limitations, aiming to pave the way for more widespread adoption in previously unachievable food and beverage product applications, thanks to innovation in eco-design, barrier technologies and coating materials.

Cardboard is an example – though traditionally used as secondary packaging, Alzamora’s Berga noted its rising use as a plastic alternative in increasingly technical applications.

“Cardboard can now perform functions that were traditionally reserved for plastic: protecting, preserving, grouping, facilitating transport and enhancing product presentation,” he told The Plant Base. “This evolution also reflects a shift in the design approach. Plastic is no longer considered the default solution – instead, more projects are conceived from the outset with a fibre-based mindset.”

Riku Talja, development manager at paperboard specialist Metsä Board, observed a growing number of new barrier materials and suppliers entering the market in recent years, resulting in a “steady flow” of new packaging solution launches.

The company recently collaborated with fellow packaging group Metpack to develop hot cups using the Metsä Board Natural FSB foodservice board, together with Metpack’s home-compostable Ezycompost barrier coating.

“This coating makes the end product home-compostable (certified by TÜV and BPI), recyclable in the paper stream, microwaveable and free of persistent microplastics,” Talja noted. The product was showcased at the Interpack 2026 trade show, where the company reported “strong interest” from attendees.

Beyond foodservice, fibre-based solutions are increasingly serving sustainable packaging needs in the challenging chilled and frozen foods categories – such as fibre-based trays for meat and plant-based meat analogues, and high-barrier paper solutions for dairy and alt-dairy.

One example is Bluemorph, an ‘ultra-high barrier’ paper solution developed by Germany based packaging start-up One.Five. This year, the solution has been adopted by vegan cheese manufacturer Vanozza for the packaging of its plant-based hard cheese alternative ‘Old Italian’ – previously packaged in non-recyclable pouches made from paper-plastic composite material.

Claire Gusko, co-founder of One.Five, said Bluemorph is especially suited to the needs of “sensitive” products like grated cheese.

“On the one hand, the product needs to be protected from the external environment to maintain its freshness but it also requires a stable environment to ensure things like aroma or moisture don’t escape,” she explained.

“Bluemorph has a high paper content, which is essential when looking at material circularity and conformity with the new [EU] Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR). The functional coatings create an extremely effective barrier, but they do not negatively impact the repulpability of the packaging material.”

The solution is recyclable and sortable in standard European infrastructure, qualifying for collection in countries where paper-based materials are picked up kerbside. Additionally, Gusko emphasised its suitability for existing filling lines, despite many traditional lines being built and calibrated “for the unique strengths of plastic”.

“Other paper solutions are known to get damaged during the filling process, which leads to barrier deterioration and less protection for the product. Our data shows that Bluemorph can maintain this barrier even though the material has gone through the stresses and frictions of a high-speed packing line,” she said. “It is evidence that paper-based

packaging can finally perform on par with its plastic predecessors.”

Looking to nature

A wide range of plant-based materials are being assessed for their potential in providing greener plastic alternatives for food and beverage packaging.

Xampla, a University of Cambridge spin-out based in the UK, recently received $14 million in funding to support the replacement of more than 10 billion units of single-use plastic with its Morro materials over the next five years. This includes plastic linings found in takeaway boxes, coffee cups and sachets.

The compostable, biodegradable Morro materials offer a natural polymer alternative made from regenerative and natural plant protein feedstocks, including peas, rapeseed and sunflower. They can also be used as edible replacements for packaging single-serve food products like sweets and soups.

Another burgeoning area of interest is cassava-based solutions. The root vegetable – native to South America and now widely cultivated across many tropical regions including Africa and Asia – has been the focus of several recent sustainable packaging initiatives, including a research project from the University of the South Pacific (USP), Fiji.

Led by associate professor David Rohindra, the USP team developed an edible and biodegradable food coating made from cassava starch. With promising applications in fresh produce, the coating is designed to extend the shelf life of tropical fruits like mangoes by accelerating the drying process and deterring fruit fly infestation.

“Cassava starch is an ideal choice for biodegradable food packaging films because it is reliably available year-round as a perennial crop, requires minimal agricultural inputs, and has a high starch content of 25-35%, ensuring efficient use of resources,” Rohindra told The Plant Base.

“After gelatinisation, cassava starch forms viscous pastes that easily mix with other hydrophilic compounds, allowing the production of flexible, durable and water-resistant composite films suitable for packaging applications.”

The researchers mixed cassava starch with water to create solutions with concentrations of 0.1%, 0.3% and 0.5%. These were gelatinised by heating at 75°C with continuous stirring, followed by the addition of acetic acid, Rohindra explained. 1.5ml of clove essential oil was then added to the mix, acting as a natural antibacterial and flavouring agent. The prepared solution was used for coating and, once dried, formed a bioplastic film.

“As a biodegradable packaging material, it offers a suitable alternative to plastic wrappers for food packaging, such as takeout containers,” said Rohindra.

Elsewhere, in Nigeria, a start-up named White Gold is also exploring the benefits of cassava-based packaging materials. Taiwo Akinbami Okeyedun, the company’s founder, explained the inspiration behind the company’s journey into the cassava packaging space: “Collaborative findings by United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)

and Federal Ministry of Environment in 2021 showed that in 2040, most cities in Nigeria would be unliveable because of plastic disposal on agricultural lands and in water bodies.”

“Cassava-based packaging serves two utmost purposes – compostability and biodegradability… It takes three months to decompose in a natural environment…without need for recycling in any way.”

The company’s packaging solutions are suitable across a range of food applications including bakery and confectionery, beverages and fresh produce.

“Many starch-based sources such as corn and potato starches have been used for various biodegradable plastics; cassava has been found to be the cheapest starch source in sub-tropical and tropical regions,” Okeyedun explained.

Driving momentum

Despite promising potential, both Okeyedun and Rohindra acknowledged the scale-up challenges around taking their technologies from lab-scale to mass production. Raw material supply inconsistency and optimising formulations for specific applications, like rigid or flexible films, are challenging on a larger scale, Okeyedun said, noting that the company is seeking funders that “understand our ecosystem and are very patient with us”.

Rohindra agreed: “Translating laboratory processes to an industrial scale requires specialised technical knowledge and sufficient financial funding. As scientists, we found that attracting investors to support the transition from development to market launch has been a critical hurdle in achieving commercial viability.”

The USP team is now working on improving the water retention property of its cassava starch-based coating so it can be adapted for broader packaging applications across diverse frozen food categories.

Collaboration across the value chain will be key to advancing plant-based packaging solutions, with Metsä Board’s Talja emphasising the important roles of research institutes and packaging producers.

“The strong level of collaboration across the value chain, combined with a steady flow of new fibre-based packaging solution launches, indicates continued momentum in the coming years,” he concluded. “This will drive further innovation in materials and technologies, enabling fibre-based packaging to expand into increasingly demanding applications while supporting the transition towards more sustainable packaging systems.”