PaperFoam

Half Magic Beauty's PaperFoam eyeshadow compacts and Forever Palette / Source: Half Magic

Abrasion-ResistantAsiaBeautyCelluloseCompostableEuropeFood & BeverageFood GradeLightweightLow-CarbonNorth AmericaPackagingPaperFoamRecyclableRegenerativeRigid

WHAT WE SAY:

Sustainable packaging alternatives that can act as instant drop-in replacements for plastic are the new status quo. But we're under no illusions that the world of biomaterials is contending with challenges around scalability, price parity, and transitional ease. One material has already proven it can overcome these barriers.

Using only four "exclusively natural" ingredients – starch, cellulose, water, and a unique 'premix' – PaperFoam delivers a pleasingly tactile solution with unrivalled versatility. The bio-based packaging material fits seamlessly into the paper recycling stream and is home compostable, breaking down into organic matter in under three months. In PaperFoam's own words, sustainable packaging is no longer a trend, but "a necessity". And the company's dogged determination to deliver a simple yet sophisticated plastic-free alternative proves that it can walk the walk.

PaperFoam

WHAT IS PAPERFOAM?

PaperFoam is a bio-based packaging material made using four ingredients: industrial potato starch, Cellulose fibres, water, and a unique premix. The ingredients are combined to create a toothpaste-like mixture, and colour is added using food colourings.
The company – also named PaperFoam and founded in 1998 – does not disclose the contents of its premix. Speaking to PlasticFree, PaperFoam's business developer, Thomas van Sintmaartensdijk, called it a "trade secret", but confirmed that it is "completely natural and renewable".
To create the versatile material, the paste is injected into a hard Aluminium tool and brought to a boil by baking it at 204 degrees celsius, with a foam-like substance forming inside the cavity, hence the material's name: "in essence, it's a foam paper". Once the paste is formed, baked, and dried, the tool opens to eject the moulds.
PaperFoam is a personalised packaging platform. The company doesn't manufacture generic, one-size-fits-all products – every design is bespoke, offering limitless branding potential. Elements of customisation include embossing, debossing, textural and structural finishes, integrated logo designs, and colour. PaperFoam can be coloured with any uncoated Pantone shade, and can be made to fit any product size and shape.
PaperFoam resembles paper, but has a foamy texture. It is food safe, abrasion resistant, lightweight, robust, tactile, and has excellent protective properties, cushioning fragile goods in transit. It's also dust and particle free, making it ideal for pharmaceutical and medical products.
PaperFoam does not use any coatings, linings, synthetic additives, or glues, since almost all available coatings "are not environmentally friendly and might influence [PaperFoam's] compostability and recyclability", according to van Sintmaartensdijk.
The material is certified compostable at home and in an industrial facility. It harmlessly biodegrades into organic matter, becoming compost in 10 to 12 weeks. In an industrial composting facility, PaperFoam breaks down in under five weeks. It is also kerbside recyclable in the paper waste stream.
PaperFoam is a suitable replacement for a range of plastic packaging, and can be used for e-commerce packaging, inserts and inlays, plantable packaging, reusable display stands, blister trays, retail packaging, and gift packaging. It is ideal for an extensive range of products across multiple sectors, including medical devices, tools, dried foods, pharmaceutical products, and fragile items such as eggs, electronics, and glass containers.
The company's vast portfolio features global brands including Waterdrop, Schwarzkopf, Homebase, Half Magic Beauty, Pukka Herbs, T-Mobile, Delica, Swatch, and Burt's Bees.
According to PaperFoam's Global Sales Manager, Erwin Fontaine, the company "can handle tens of millions of units". It typically accepts orders with a minimum quantity of 25,000 units, but is open to discussions regarding smaller volumes.
PaperFoam says that its material is price competitive with plastic when the true cost of plastic is taken into account, from incoming taxes and legislation to surging externality costs and liabilities.
The company has manufacturing sites on three continents: Europe, North America, and Asia. It ships worldwide, and has established local sales agents in Amsterdam, Berlin, Paris, Penang, New York, San Francisco, and Kyoto to serve clients internationally.

KEY PROPERTIES:

Abrasion-Resistant
Compostable
Food Grade
Lightweight
Low-Carbon
Recyclable
Regenerative
Rigid

INDUSTRY:

Beauty
Food & Beverage
Packaging

AVAILABILITY:

Mass Market

DIVE DEEPER:

The world produces 141 million tonnes of plastic packaging every year, most of which ends up in landfill, incinerators, or in vulnerable ecosystems. The 9% recycling rate is a damning verdict of the plastics industry's legacy, and with growing concerns around its toxicity, the need for bio-based alternatives is urgent.
On the other end of the spectrum, however, reverting from plastic to paper - a particularly sought after solution by many brands - has its own downsides, especially when the paper is made purely from tree-based fibres. According to the British Beauty Council, the beauty industry's use of paper alone accounts for the destruction of 18 million acres of forest every year.
PaperFoam solves both of these issues, offering a drop-in alternative to plastics while primarily using a waste feedstock. A direct substitute for Styrofoam and injection moulded plastics, it can compete with plastic on price and scale, and delivers a 40% reduction in the weight of packed products, compared to traditional packaging materials.
Although PaperFoam predominantly uses potatoes as its main source of starch, alternatives such as pea, tapioca, and corn starch can also be used, and all starch is sourced from industrial, non-food feedstocks. To localise its supply chain, the type of starch used will depend on the regional availability of these feedstocks.
The company sources its raw materials and manufactures its products locally. PaperFoam's European production facilities use starch sourced from Denmark, Finland, and the Czech Republic, and cellulose fibres from Scandinavia, the UK, and Eastern Europe. PaperFoam's sites in Penang, Malaysia, and North Carolina, US, also source raw inputs locally to minimise the product's carbon footprint, lead time, and cost.
The company's factories operate automated production lines to minimise waste, with all deformed moulds and waste material diverted to a paper recycling facility. To recycle PaperFoam, the material is shredded and pulped by mixing it with water, and then cleaned and refined to produce fresh fibres that can be repurposed into new paper products.
Fontaine states that PaperFoam's carbon footprint is roughly four times lower when compared to traditional plastic packaging materials such as PET and PP. The production process is "very clean and very efficient", with minimal energy and water required, and "almost no cooling water needed". Where possible, the company employs solar and wind power in its manufacturing process.
An extensive LCA of PaperFoam is available upon request. The company calculates the total carbon footprint of each project it undertakes, supplying clients with comprehensive data to compare their old packaging's environmental impact with PaperFoam.
PaperFoam is TÜV certified home compostable and biobased. It is also UL validated for paper recyclability, with a 99% recovery rate of available fibres.
PaperFoam is plantable, as demonstrated by the company's collaboration with British home improvement retailer Homebase. Together, they launched a special edition Red Nose That Grows, featuring a PaperFoam red shell containing wildflower seeds. Once planted, the shell biodegrades, allowing the seeds to germinate. Released in February 2023, all profits were donated to British charity Comic Relief.
In 2020, PaperFoam established a partnership with Toly, a beauty packaging development platform, to explore packaging innovations for the global cosmetics industry. The collaboration emerged in response to growing demand from the market for sustainable, plastic-free solutions.
Representing a first for the cosmetics sector, Half Magic Beauty's PaperFoam makeup compacts emerged directly out of the company's partnership with Toly and the brand's holding company, Rules Beauty. Half Magic "was the first one to really jump on board", and as a result of the brand's award-winning adoption of PaperFoam, the company has received a number of enquiries from beauty brands looking to phase plastic out of their value chain.
In July 2023, the company introduced a thicker version of the solution – PaperFoam Plus – to replace EPS and Styrofoam for industrial tools and heavy kitchen appliances. Due to its collaborative spirit, Fontaine states that the company is discovering new applications of PaperFoam on a daily basis, as well as replacing conventional plastic packaging components in ways that it didn't think were possible.

PaperFoam packaging for Seed Health/ Source: PaperFoam

The Red Nose That Grows / Source: Homebase

KEY FACTS:

40%

PaperFoam delivers a 40% reduction in the weight of packed goods

10-12 weeks

PaperFoam breaks down naturally into compost in 10 to 12 weeks

90%

PaperFoam packaging has a carbon footprint up to 90% lower than traditional plastic packaging

Key Questions to Ask:

How many units do you need?

PaperFoam is already operating at scale, and requires relatively large order volumes to produce its packaging at a competitive price. However, smaller businesses and well-established brands who are looking to adopt PaperFoam, but want to test the waters with a lower order volume, are encouraged to make an enquiry. Fontaine says the company is keen to bring as many brands from as many industries on board, and "can support relatively low volumes" on a case-by-case basis.

Do you require barrier properties?

Starch and cellulose's inherent properties make PaperFoam a material that isn't suitable for liquids. Rather than add barrier properties that would compromise the material's end-of-life options, the company has chosen to keep PaperFoam entirely free from "polluting" plastic liners. If you require a packaging material that can withstand moisture and grease, you may want to consider Notpla, which uses a biodegradable Seaweed coating and can hold products with a low water content, or infinitely recyclable aluminium containers. Alternatively, you could consider developing a waterless design or solid formulation to forgo the need for a barrier coating altogether, making PaperFoam an ideal packaging solution.

How can you ensure that your packaging is disposed of correctly?

Home-compostable materials are an excellent choice for packaging, but it's vital that brands and packaging suppliers take responsibility for communicating end-of-life options to consumers. Whilst PaperFoam is naturally biodegradable, the timeframe for home composting can vary depending on circumstances such as the quality of the compost heap, and the mode of composting. Likewise, if your packaging is recyclable in an existing waste stream, disseminating that information to your customers with clarity ensures that the packaging reaches the right destination. Informing your audience about these variables is key – take inspiration from Half Magic's extensive recycling guide, which offers granular detail on each product's packaging components and how they can be recycled. The forward-thinking brand has even dedicated a page on its website to educating its customers about how to recycle and compost its PaperFoam compacts, leaving nothing to chance.