Biodegradable food packaging, explained with sources
Plain-English guides to bio-based packaging materials, how they actually break down, and what EU law now asks of them.
Most of what gets written about "eco" packaging is either a sales pitch or a scare story. We try to sit in the boring middle. Each guide on this site explains one material or one rule, says where the evidence is thin, and lists it's sources at the bottom so you can check them yourself.
We write for people who have to make decisions about packaging: food producers, buyers, students and the odd curious shopper who wants to know why a "compostable" cup can't go in the garden heap.
Start here
- Biodegradable food packagingThe full guide: materials, how they break down, where they fit.
- Compostable vs biodegradableTwo labels that are often confused, side by side.
- PHA bioplasticsPlastics made inside bacteria, and why packaging researchers like them.
- PLA vs PHAThe two best-known bioplastics compared.
- Edible packagingFilms and coatings you can eat, and their limits.
- Active packaging and shelf lifePackaging that does more than hold food.
- EU packaging rules (PPWR)What the new EU packaging regulation means for food.
- Research publicationsPeer-reviewed work on bio-based food packaging, summarised.
Where this site comes from
This address used to belong to YPACK, an EU-funded research project that ran from 2017 to 2021 and worked on food packaging made from PHA, a plastic produced by bacteria from cheese whey and almond shells. The project is over. We are not part of it and never were, but we cover the same subject and keep a short, independent summary of what it did for anyone arriving from an old link.
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