Collaboration launched to bring PFAS-free coatings to Asian market

Morro Coatings are reportedly the first “natural” polymers made from plants to enter the Asian packaging market. The move sets out to help Japanese packaging manufacturers replace plastic and PFAS coatings across foodservice packaging formats and attract both domestic and international customers looking for plastic-free coating options in line with targets set out in Japan’s Plastic Resource Circulation Act.

Based on 15+ years of research at the University of Cambridge, Morro materials are a “world-first patented” technology. They are made from plants, not chemically modified, and PFAS and plastic-free. They are also home compostable, biodegradable in all environments (including marine water) and are suitable for recycling, ensuring they can be disposed of responsibly. Designed to replace the most polluting plastics that occur in foodservice and takeaway packaging, Morro Coatings are described as having excellent grease and water barriers, to be heat sealable for applications such as sachets, and exhibit high performance in the hot environments of commercial kitchens.

The demand for biomaterials in packaging has increased around the world. With the Plastic Resource Circulation Act the Japanese government has set ambitious targets to drive the transition to a circular economy, including reducing the amount of single-use plastic products by 25% by 2030 and boosting the amount of biomaterials in the supply chain to 2 million tonnes by 2030. Marine pollution from single-use plastic is also a serious problem, particularly for island nations such as Japan where the aquatic ecosystem is integral for everyday life, from trade through to mealtimes.

Morro Coating is designed as a drop-in solution to current supply chains, being compatible with existing coating methods and already proven on a range of different substrates for different packaging formats.

Alexandra French, CEO at Xampla, said: “It’s a privilege to be working with DIC to tackle the problem of PFAS and single-use plastic pollution by introducing our PFAS and plastic-free Morro Coatings into Japan. As a global leader in the chemicals industry, their exceptional operational standards will help scale Morro production in Asia and support the foodservice sector to quickly adopt PFAS-free and plastic-free packaging.”

Takeo Ikeda, Manager of CVC group at DIC Corporation, added: “Japan is becoming a leader in combatting PFAS and plastic pollution and DIC is always looking to innovate new solutions to solve this problem. Our “5R” approach - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Redesign, Renew – is realising a circular economy by incorporating environmentally friendly materials into our packaging solutions, with Xampla’s Morro Coatings a perfect fit for us. We hope that the material and its high performing properties can help our customers bring PFAS and plastic-free materials to the domestic and global foodservice markets, helping them to secure market share in a plastic-free future. We’re excited to work with Xampla to explore what can be achieved.”

In other news, Northwestern University researchers have developed a new water and oil-resistant material that could potentially become a safe, viable replacement for harmful plastics and toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in food packaging. Elsewhere, Carccu has designed renewable, PFAS-free greaseproof papers to meet a growing demand for sustainability-minded packaging materials in food packaging while maintaining the necessary food safety and barrier properties.