Bio-based food packaging: from design to practice

Switching from fossil-based plastics to bio-based packaging takes more than a new material. Food companies also need evidence to support performance, regulatory compliance, and investment decisions. The European AgriBioPack project brings these issues together. It aims to help small and medium-sized food companies put bio-based packaging into use. The ambition: replace 40–50 percent of fossil-based plastic by weight in each tested and assessed packaging variant.

AgriBioPack began on November 1, 2026, and runs through October 31, 2029. The European funding contribution totals nearly €5 million. Spain’s Naked Innovations coordinates the consortium of sixteen organizations.

Testing and assessing packaging

The partners aim to jointly design more than sixty different packaging variants. Their work focuses on four groups of applications within the food sector. These cover dairy and meat, fruit and vegetables, and fish and seafood. The fourth group consists of packaging for takeout and delivered meals.

The designs go through several assessment stages, with partners deciding whether to proceed with further development. More than ten variants are expected to advance to production line testing. The test conditions reflect industrial practice. The partners will also compile documentation for assessment by certification bodies.

Side streams and verifiable data

The project will establish four regional hubs across Ireland, Spain, Italy, and Greece. These will connect local side streams with available processing capacity and options for managing packaging after use.

The partners are also developing a digital system for monitoring, reporting, and verification. It aims to provide verifiable data and limit the reporting burden on small and medium-sized companies. The system is being designed to support integration with digital product passports.

Through the AgriBioPack Academy, the project offers training to companies. The consortium also involves investors and other financial stakeholders. The partners are also preparing to apply the approach in six other regions.

Cordis.europa.eu