On June 17, 2025, the Understanding Packaging (UP) Scorecard hosted a webinar for all interested stakeholders to learn about biobased materials. New regulations, requirements, and consumer trends are inducing a shift away from conventional packaging materials and towards novel food packaging being made from biobased and biodegradable materials. This shift comes with many questions among manufacturers, brand owners, and consumers alike about what these novel materials are, what impacts they can have, and how to manage them.
To provide some clarity on the topic, UP Scorecard invited policy experts, scientists, and biobased material manufacturers to share their expertise.
Biobased and biodegradable materials are often made of components that are new to the modern packaging industry, but no matter how novel the material, the regulations and tests they must adhere to are the same as more conventional materials. Over the course of the webinar the speakers share their expertise from varying disciplines involved in packaging from the current regulatory landscape in the EU, lab tests investigating the chemical safety between biobased/biodegradable plastics and conventional plastics, what investors and industry researchers are considering when looking for the next material(s) to bring to market, and what some startups have accomplished and are already bringing to market.
Dorota Napierska of Zero Waste Europe laid the groundwork for the audience by describing the EU regulations that have some effect on biobased and biodegradable materials. All food contact materials (FCMs) in Europe are subject to the basic requirements of the FCM regulation and if those materials are plastics, they are additionally subject to a plastics regulation. Other FCMs, such as paper or fiber-based materials, do not have harmonized regulations across the EU. The FCM Regulation includes concerns about demonstrating the basic safety of the material but according to Napierska, “unfortunately, this rule is a bit too general, really, to conclude on how the safety has to be achieved and how it has to be demonstrated.” She continues, “Also really important is that fact that we [Europe] are also missing the harmonized rules for the majority of materials that are actually used in FCMs.”
Lisa Zimmermann of the Food Packaging Forum defined the terms being used in the webinar. “Biobased” refers to the feedstock, “biodegradable” to how it breaks down, and “compostable” is a specific type of biodegradation. Being biobased does not guarantee biodegradability, and vice versa. Zimmermann described some of her research comparing biobased/biodegradable plastics to conventional plastics in cell-based toxicity tests. She found that while toxicity results varied, they varied in approximately the same way between the two groups. Meaning, at least of the approximately 40 bioplastic items she tested, the same concerns as conventional plastics were still present.
According to Matt Saunders of New Earth Ventures and Atlantic Packaging, “my high level guiding principles in investing in this area… the bar there is ‘better’ … net-net new materials for packaging have to be better than the plastic already on the market” in performance, price, start and/or end of life, and while still using the same infrastructure. The industry is most interested in finding materials that don’t have the same problems as conventional materials (like those Zimmermann discussed). As such, it can be helpful to divide packaging materials by use – secondary, primary (food contact), and different types of food contact. Consumers, especially younger consumers, are asking for better packaging but to truly get rid of plastics, “we need to find an alternative barrier coating.”
Hoa Doan of Notpla, a seaweed-based packaging startup, and Marissa Schwinn of Traceless, a paper packaging startup, shared the materials their companies use and what they do to test in their own way this “better” bar that Saunders described. Doan explained that there are over 12,000 species of seaweed and even using only a few Notpla can create all the necessary properties needed in various packaging materials such as being hot water soluble, heat stable, flexible, coloring, and more. Schwinn and colleagues at Traceless use agricultural waste products to create paper materials that avoid deforestation. The materials are already being collected and utilized in foods, so some of the concerns from conventional materials can be avoided.
All speakers shared more details of their work in the webinar and the specific concerns and benchmarks they investigate to contribute to the development of truly safe and sustainable packaging materials. Each also took questions at the end of the webinar to cover points of interest from the audience. Watch the recording to hear it all.
Thank you again to all speakers and participants.
Webinar Speakers
Dorota Napierska
Toxic-Free Circular Economy Policy Officer
Zero Waste Europe
Dorota holds a PhD degree in Biomedical Sciences. Prior to joining Zero Waste Europe, Dorota was leading the Safer Chemicals programme at Health Care Without Harm Europe and worked for the European Commission and Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. At ZWE, her work focuses on the topic of safety of chemicals, materials, products and packaging (and food contact materials / food packaging in particular), as well as clean and effective material cycles needed for achievement of a truly non-toxic circular economy.
Lisa Zimmermann
Scientific Communication Officer
Food Packaging Forum
Lisa is a biologist using her scientific research and communication
skills to help stakeholders make decisions to protect human and environmental health. She completed an MSc in biological science at the University of Konstanz and a PhD at the Goethe University Frankfurt am
Main. During her PhD, Lisa’s work focused on assessing the in vitro
toxicity and composition of chemicals contained in and migrating from conventional plastic products and their bio-based and biodegradable
alternatives. Her findings that most of the products contained toxic or
unknown chemicals and her desire to raise awareness for that issue inspired her to continue her career at the Food Packaging Forum. Through her work, Lisa hopes to contribute to building a world with safe and sustainable food systems.
Etienne Cabane
Engagement Director
Food Packaging Forum
Etienne is a learning and engagement specialist with scientific training as a materials scientist. He studied chemistry and materials science at CPE Lyon and the University of New Hampshire and holds a PhD in physical chemistry from the University of Basel. After finishing his degree, Etienne completed postdoctoral work at ETH Zurich, where he also built and led an independent research group focused on simple and versatile protocols for functionalizing wood with novel properties. Through his work, Etienne hopes to raise awareness of environmental health issues and drive change.
As Engagement Director at the Food Packaging Forum, Etienne leads the ongoing development of the Understanding Packaging (UP) Scorecard and connects with stakeholders to encourage implementation. He creates and supports opportunities for collaboration and manages and fosters relationships. Since joining the Food Packaging Forum in 2023, Etienne has redefined the UP Scorecard strategy and successfully reached out to new stakeholders who are now active users.
Matt Saunders
Venture Capitalist Investor
New Earth Ventures, Atlantic Packaging
Matt Saunders is Managing Partner of New Earth Ventures based in New York City. Matt co-leads NEV’s investing activities where he is responsible for deal sourcing, negotiating, and execution, in addition to macro investment thesis origination and investment management. Matt oversees fund operations in addition to his role on the Investment Committee.
Matt is an experienced private equity and venture capital investor with sectoral expertise in alternative materials and sustainability as well as the broader American energy transition (including infrastructure, AI software, and supporting services). He has experience building emerging asset managers, identifying, negotiating, and structuring preferential investment opportunities, and managing investments in private companies, including in positive circumstances and in restructuring situations. Most recently, Matt was a Venture Partner and Principal at Helena where he co-created the firm’s for-profit strategy and built its for-profit business. Prior to that, Matt held roles at Global Infrastructure Partners, Barclays, and the White House. Matt is a graduate of Princeton with a summa cum laude degree in Politics and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.
Hoan Doan
Head of Impact and Sustainability
Notpla
Hoa is a climate policy expert with experience in consulting, public sectors, and entrepreneurship. She served as a Net Zero policy advisor in the UK Prime Minister’s Office, where she oversaw the delivery of decarbonisation programs. Currently, she holds the position of Head of Impact and Sustainability at Notpla, a UK-based startup that recently won The Earthshot Prize for its plastic-free consumer packaging products made from seaweed and plants.
Marissa Schwinn
International Sales Manager
Traceless
With a degree in International Business and Film Production, Marissa began her career in the film industry, where she produced advertisements and managed projects for some of the world’s leading corporations. She later transitioned into product management, focusing on photo and film equipment. Driven by a desire to align her career with more sustainable practices, she took on a new challenge as Sales Manager for packaging solutions and Project Lead for extrusion paper coating at traceless.
