iGreen’s approach to high-barrier molded pulp: performance, with a realistic end-of-life strategy. 🥩📦

For fresh meat, produce and ready meals, packaging needs to do more than simply hold the product. It needs to provide protection against moisture, oxygen, oil and other external factors that can affect product quality and shelf life.

#Moldedpulp provides a renewable fiber base, but on its own, it has limitations when high barrier performance is required.

That is why we developed molded pulp trays with PP/EVOH and PE/EVOH barrier structures.

Based on our laboratory testing, the material can deliver:

🌡️ Heat resistance: 120–150°C
💧 WVTR (38°C, 90% RH): 6.1 g/m²·24h
🧱 OTR (23°C, 0% RH): 0.78 cm³/m²·24h·0.1 MPa
🛡️ Resistance to water, oil and alcohol

This level of performance makes the structure suitable for applications such as fresh meat, produce and selected ready-meal packaging, where barrier performance and product protection are critical.

But there is an important point to be transparent about.

The PP, PE and EVOH barrier layers are conventional polymer materials. They are not biodegradable or compostable.

We believe it is important to be clear about that rather than simply labeling the entire package as “eco-friendly.”

Instead, our approach focuses on designing the structure for easier material separation after use.

We have developed peel-away edge design that create a defined separation point between the barrier film and the molded pulp tray. After use, the plastic layer can be manually separated from the fiber base.

This creates the potential for:

• The fiber tray to enter an appropriate paper recycling stream
• The separated plastic film to be directed to the relevant plastic recycling stream, where suitable collection and recycling infrastructure is available

Of course, the actual recycling outcome still depends on local collection systems, recycling facilities and consumer participation.

It is not a perfect solution—but it is a practical design approach for applications where high barrier performance is required.

For customers looking for a compostable alternative, we are also working with PBAT-based film solutions.

These structures are designed for applications where compostability is a key requirement. However, there are trade-offs.

Compared with high-barrier PP/EVOH or PE/EVOH structures:

• Water, oil and alcohol resistance is more limited
• Barrier performance may change over time
• Material stability and storage conditions require closer coordination across production, logistics and inventory planning

In our testing and development work, the performance window can gradually change after approximately six months, depending on the material structure and storage conditions.

This means that compostability and high-barrier performance cannot always be optimized to the same level at the same time.

And that is exactly why packaging development should start with the real requirements of the product, rather than a single environmental claim.

At iGreen, we believe sustainable packaging development means being honest about material limitations, understanding the performance trade-offs, and designing each structure around the actual application and end-of-life pathway.

High barrier when performance comes first.
Compostable options when circularity is the priority.
And clear communication about what each material can—and cannot—do.

That, in our view, is a more practical way to move sustainable packaging forward.