EcoCradle, a material developed in the USA by Ecovative Design, is said to offer the same protection as expanded polystyrene (known as Styrofoam in the USA), but is a ‘truly sustainable from creation to disposal’.
Based on waste agricultural materials and bound together with mycelium (mushroom roots), EcoCradle can be used for a variety of applications, from protection of large products such as furniture and TVs to disposable coffee cups (although FDA approval has not yet been granted for food use). After use, it can be composted or put into landfill, where it breaks down naturally.
CEO Eben Bayer tells Packaging Today: “EcoCradle is ideal for protecting large products over 7kg in weight, but it is also good for smaller items. It is truly sustainable, as we use local resources, and moulding is done at room temperature, which saves energy. In fact, for each unit of material we create, we use eight times less energy than the same unit of expanded polystyrene, and emit ten times less CO2. Best of all, our prices are not linked to the volatile prices of oil and gas.
“We use a growing organism to transform agricultural by-products such as cotton seed hulls and buck wheat hulls into the protective packages. Our patented process uses a filamentous fungi to bond this packaging into almost any shape,” he says.
The material properties of EcoCradle can be adjusted to suit different applications. The density, resilience, surface finish and feature resolution of the finished packaging can therefore be controlled.
Ecovative Design was a start-up business three years ago, and has commercialised the process, which was originally developed at the Renselaer Polytechnic Institute in the USA. The first customers are now starting to show interest, and Mr Bayer tells me that an order to pack energy efficient window blinds has just been placed. “Furniture and appliances will follow,” he says.
The technology is only available in the USA at present, but there are plans to establish plants in Europe within a year or year and a half. “We have been working on blends that are suitable for local European raw material sources, as we want to maintain the sustainability of the product, and only use local agricultural products. That way, we are saving on CO2 used for shipping,” says Mr Eben.
