Partners and resources
Organisations we work with, and the institutions we rely on when we research our articles.
The first section lists partners and companies we feature. Everything below it is a list of resources: research institutes, authorities and organisations that we link to because their work is useful, not because we have any agreement with them. Each organisation below have its own website, and the short notes are ours.
Partners and featured projects
Companies and projects whose work on bio-based food packaging we think is worth knowing about. We have no business relationship with them and they did not pay to be here. Partner links, if we add any, are marked with an "Ad" label. Want to be featured or become a partner? Get in touch. For the science behind these materials, see our guides to edible and seaweed-based packaging and PHA bioplastics.
- Notpla Makes packaging from seaweed and plants for takeaway food, sachets and e-commerce. Winner of the Earthshot Prize. notpla.com ↗
- traceless materials Turns plant residues from agriculture into a bio-based material that, according to the company, is compostable under natural conditions. Uses by-products instead of food crops. traceless.eu ↗
- Newlight Technologies (AirCarbon) Produces AirCarbon, a PHA-type material made by microorganisms, used for food-service items such as straws and cutlery. newlight.com ↗
Research institutes and universities
European centres with a strong record in food packaging, bioplastics and bio-based materials. Several of them took part in the YPACK project, which we describe on About YPACK.
- IATA-CSIC, Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology Food science institute of the Spanish National Research Council near Valencia. CSIC coordinated the YPACK project, and much of the published work on PHBV packaging films came from groups working there. iata.csic.es ↗
- Wageningen Food & Biobased Research Applied research arm of Wageningen University & Research for food and bio-based materials, including packaging and food waste. Wageningen University took part in YPACK. wur.nl ↗
- Fraunhofer IVV Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging in Freising. Works on food packaging materials, barrier layers and recycling. ivv.fraunhofer.de ↗
- VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland State-owned research centre with long experience in fibre-based and bio-based materials, including packaging alternatives to plastics. vttresearch.com ↗
- Centre of Biological Engineering, University of Minho Research centre in Braga covering bioprocesses and food engineering. The University of Minho was a YPACK partner. ceb.uminho.pt ↗
- NOVA School of Science and Technology Faculty of NOVA University Lisbon. Its researchers have worked on producing PHA from waste streams and co-authored YPACK papers on PHBV made from cheese whey. fct.unl.pt ↗
EU authorities and official sources
Where the rules come from. Most facts on this site about regulation trace back to one of these.
- European Commission: Plastics The Commission's pages on plastics policy, including the framework for bio-based, biodegradable and compostable plastics. environment.ec.europa.eu ↗
- EFSA: Food contact materials The European Food Safety Authority assesses the safety of substances used in food packaging before they can be authorised. efsa.europa.eu ↗
- CORDIS The official database of EU-funded research projects and their results. The first place to look up projects like YPACK. cordis.europa.eu ↗
- EUR-Lex The official source for EU legislation, including the packaging regulation (EU) 2025/40. eur-lex.europa.eu ↗
Organisations and associations
- EUFIC, European Food Information Council Non-profit that explains food science to the public, including food packaging and sustainability. EUFIC was a YPACK partner. eufic.org ↗
- SERP Monitor Keyword rank tracker for content creators and SEO professionals, with pay-as-you-go pricing instead of a monthly fee. Handy for following how research and information sites rank in search. serpmonitor.net ↗
Missing an organisation that should be here? Let us know. For peer-reviewed research, see our publications page.