Scaling up biodegradable plant-based resin production for high-volume food-contact packaging, starting with functional and barrier coatings for paperboard applications

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Brand owners are increasingly under pressure to transition from plastic to paperboard packaging in response to consumer, industry, and regulatory pressures; however, in many paperboard packaging applications (for example, single-use takeaway containers), functional and barrier coatings are required to deliver performance in use.Yet, traditional petroleum-based coatings (typically, polyethylene) consume non-renewable fossil fuel resources, are non-biodegradable (breaking down in the environment to release persistent microplastics), and hard-to-recycle (being both highly contaminated with food waste and grease, as well as difficult to separate from the paperboard), contaminating paperboard recycling streams. Consequently, single-use plastic-coated paperboard takeaway containers are destined for incineration, landfill, or environmental release.Xampla's mission is to replace the world's most polluting plastics for good. Originally spun out from the University of Cambridge in 2018 and now with a team of 35 people based in the Cambridge Science Park Bioinnovation Centre, our patented and game-changing technology harnesses the natural ability of plant proteins to self-assemble. We have created a new class of structured protein materials that deliver performance in use, are bio-/plant-based, biodegradable, manufacturable, and can be solubilised and removed within conventional recycling process steps. We have leveraged private and public funding to deliver swift, successful commercialisation, resulting in innovative product launches in multiple high-value, low-volume applications.Innovate UK Smart funding will formalise a development partnership between Xampla and 2M, global leader in manufacture and distribution of specialty chemicals (Queen's Award for International Trade). Together, we will scale up production of Xampla's biodegradable plant-based resin for high-volume packaging applications. We will start with functional and barrier coatings for paperboard packaging, a market valued by Smithers at USD7.84 billion in 2021 and responsible for the annual production of 3.19 megatonnes of hard-to-recycle, non-biodegradable, petroleum-based coatings.Successful Smart project outcomes will position Xampla, 2M, and UK as world leaders in sustainable packaging.