The partnership will enable the technology to be created at Sealed Air plants.
Ecovative, the company behind EcoCradle mushroom packaging, which they hope will replace petrochemical-based plastics, signed the deal in January this year.
Plan in place
Ken Aurichio, executive director of corporate communications at Sealed Air, told FoodProductionDaily.com production had not started but a “plan is in place to do so.”
“Since January we have been finalizing the arrangements for sales and marketing as plans for begin production of products from Sealed Air plants.
“The Ecovative technology can be used for a number or protective packaging applications, the most common of which right now is moulded shapes as you would see in the shipping of computers or other fragile items.
“We will not select a material for packaging if the environmental and performance positioning do not fit with our company’s vision.”
Partnership progress
Sam Harrington, marketing and sales at Ecovative, gave this publication an update on what had happened since the initial partnership announcement.
“While the legal teams have been finalizing the contract, Sealed Air and Ecovative have been collaborating on sales and manufacturing scale up.
“We are seeking experienced partners worldwide with expertise in sales, distribution and manufacturing of protective packaging solutions.
“We hope that our disruptive innovations will shift the industry from petrochemical based plastic foams to environmentally responsible EcoCradle packaging.”
The protective packaging was first developed five years ago and is made from agricultural by-products and mushroom roots (mycelium).
Harrington added EcoCradle is a tunable biocomposite that can replace expanded plastics like polystyrene (EPS), polyethylene (EPE) polypropylene (EPP) and polyurethane.
“It is used for protective packaging applications including cushioning and blocking and bracing for products ranging from electronics to furniture to consumer products. Unlike petrochemical based plastic foams, EcoCradle is renewable, has low embodied energy and is home compostable.
“Our goal here at Ecovative is to rid the world of environmentally harmful disposable plastics. We want EcoCradle packaging to be ubiquitous and used globally.
“Sealed Air will be helping to accelerate the commercialization of EcoCradle through the use of their sales, distribution and manufacturing expertise.”