ABOUT PAPERFOAM

• PaperFoam is a Dutch packaging solutions provider founded in 1998. The company has built a global presence over its 25 year history, with a number of offices and production facilities in Europe, Asia, and North America.

• The company employs 75 office staff, including designers, sales agents, and researchers. In total, PaperFoam boasts over 350 employees worldwide, as well as factory workers. 

• PaperFoam's proprietary material – which also goes by the name of PaperFoam – is a bio-based alternative to conventional plastic packaging. It's comprised of four ingredients: potato starch, Cellulose, water, and its novel 'premix'. The company's recipe produces a thick paste, which is injected into custom-fit moulds and baked into shape.

• In conversation with PlasticFree, the company's business developer, Thomas van Sintmaartensdijk, explained that PaperFoam has a similar composition to Paper. The former uses a higher starch-to-cellulose ratio, whereas the latter is richer in cellulose. By adjusting this ratio, PaperFoam delivers a rigid and robust structure, making the material a functional and protective packaging solution.

• The company offers a range of customisation and branding options. PaperFoam is not an 'off-the-shelf' solution; the mixture is made from scratch and the moulds are custom made. Clients can design their packaging according to any specification, choosing from an array of textures, colours, styles, and finishes.

• PaperFoam's Global Sales Manager, Erwin Fontaine, stated that prior to 2020, the company had a single-sector client base, focusing predominantly on electronics. Since then, it has experienced substantial sector and regional expansion, moving into the pharmaceutical, food, beauty, and personal care markets.

• Traditionally, PaperFoam supplied inlays for packed goods, as well as secondary packaging, but it's collaborative project with Half Magic Beauty in 2022 – a first for the company in the cosmetics industry – demonstrates the material's suitability for primary packaging too. Fontaine cites PaperFoam's partnership with Toly, a global cosmetics packaging supplier, and Rules Beauty, Half Magic's holding company, as the catalyst for its entry into the beauty sector.

• The company's commercial-scale production facilities are located in the US, Malaysia, the Czech Republic, and the Netherlands. It has also established sales offices in Amsterdam, Berlin, Paris, New York, Kyoto, and Penang.

• PaperFoam's multinational presence is bolstered by its locally sourced but globally available feedstocks. Coupled with the fact that it can use industrial starch from a variety of non-food sources as its primary raw input, it has built a localised supply chain that can serve clients worldwide.

• The company has achieved multiple certifications to validate its material's biodegradability and recyclability, including 'TÜV certified home compostable', 'TÜV certified biobased', and 'UL validated paper recyclable'.

• PaperFoam's environmental agenda includes the use of renewable resources, integrating recycling practices across its factories and processes, and minimising carbon emissions. The company claims that adopting PaperFoam yields a 90% carbon footprint reduction.

• In July 2023, the company launched a thicker iteration called PaperFoam Plus. It is a drop-in replacement for EPS and Styrofoam, and an ideal solution for industrial products and heavy kitchen appliances.

• Fontaine and van Sintmaartensdijk have observed an evolution in the packaging landscape, noting that markets are becoming increasingly receptive to plastic-free solutions. Gen Z's growing demand for sustainable solutions, coupled with the proliferation of indie brands adopting solutions like PaperFoam, is driving this change.

• PaperFoam's long-term vision is to grow from a niche player to a mass-market solutions provider. It is actively working to establish clients and build additional factories to increase its regional presence, driving the cost of the material down and attracting businesses in new markets.

• The company has won a number of awards, including the Plastic-Free Innovation of the Year at the 2023 Dieline Awards for its Half Magic makeup palette, the 2017 AmeriStar Package Award in the electronics category, and the 2017 Dieline Award in the sustainable category for its Waterdrop packaging.