Plastic-free packaging is no longer just a sustainability credential; it’s become a public health necessity. Growing scientific evidence shows that plastic is threatening human health as well as the environment. Recycling alone is not the answer. We need to design plastic out of the system altogether.
In 2023, the Minderoo-Monaco Commission on Plastics and Health confirmed that plastics harm human health at every stage of their lifecycle, from production to disposal. Microplastic and nanoplastic particles are increasingly detected in human bodies across the globe, including in vital organs such as the liver, heart, and brain.
Consequently, damaging plastic chemicals are starting to face increasing scrutiny. Regulators are already taking action with PFAS materials, recognising their harm and designing them out of unnecessary uses through measures such as the EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR).
PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a large family of manufactured chemicals used for their resistance to water, grease and stains. In food packaging, these properties help prevent grease and moisture from passing through the material, but their functional benefits come with a significant environmental and health cost.
Their extreme persistence has earned PFAS the name “forever chemicals,” as they do not readily break down and can remain in the environment for extremely long periods. Certain PFAS have been linked to health problems including liver damage and thyroid disease, and they have been detected in people of all ages across the globe, including newborns.
Once PFAS enter circulation, they cannot be recycled away or destroyed; many compounds have a lifespan of up to several thousand years. The only effective solution is to stop them entering products in the first place.
The PPWR applies that principle by restricting PFAS in food-contact packaging above specified thresholds. Rather than relying solely on managing waste, it addresses the substances at the source. This is an important shift: protecting human health and the environment starts with the decisions made when packaging is designed.
The question is not whether packaging needs to resist grease and moisture. It is whether delivering that performance must depend on chemicals that persist long after the packaging has been used. Innovation must therefore focus on retaining the function while changing the material.
If we apply that same logic to plastics more widely, the question shifts from “How do we manage plastic being produced” to something far more powerful: “Does this product need to contain plastic at all?”
Plastic production is set to triple by 2060 yet less than 10% has ever been recycled. Waste management alone is not working; materials innovation must be part of the solution. We cannot keep accepting unnecessary plastic as inevitable and asking recycling systems to manage the consequences.
The good news is that solutions already exist and are scaling. Companies creating natural polymers without chemical modification offer the packaging industry a genuine route to design out unnecessary hidden plastics and PFAS.
Some of the plastic we need to replace is hidden in packaging that appears to be made from paper. A takeaway box may look like paper yet contains a plastic lining that protects it against grease and moisture. Tackling that plastic means examining every layer of the product, rather than focusing only on its main material.
At Xampla, our Morro™ Coating is made from plant proteins without chemical modification, providing a plastic-free alternative to conventional coatings used on paper and board packaging. These natural polymers eliminate the need for plastic or PFAS to hold back grease and moisture, designing both out of the packaging at once.
The natural polymers in Morro™ Coating provide the functional barrier properties required to give paper packaging the performance it needs. Because they have not been chemically modified, they are excluded from the EU’s Single-Use Plastics Directive, which treats chemically modified natural polymers as plastic. That distinction gives businesses a clearly defined route to move away from conventional plastic, rather than simply changing how plastic-containing packaging is presented.
The challenge in replacing plastic is ensuring that alternatives deliver the necessary performance, safety and scalability. Ambition will only translate into widespread adoption if the alternative works in the products people use and is accessible to the businesses buying packaging.
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Our partnership with Just Eat Takeaway and packaging manufacturer Huhtamaki demonstrates how this transition can happen. It brings takeaway boxes using Morro™ Coating to ten European markets, following earlier launches with Lieferando in Germany and Austria.
Takeaway food is a demanding application: containers must withstand greasy or moisture-rich dishes and maintain their strength during delivery. The adoption of packaging with the Morro™ Coating is a practical demonstration of how natural polymer alternatives can deliver the performance businesses need.
The partnership also brings together the expertise needed for wider adoption. Xampla develops the material, Huhtamaki manufactures the packaging, and Just Eat Takeaway.com makes it available to restaurant partners. Innovation needs all three: the right material, manufacturing capability, and a route to market.
Change should be straightforward. Someone ordering a meal should not need specialist knowledge of packaging coatings to avoid unnecessary plastic. Better materials can be built into familiar products, making the change part of everyday life rather than an additional burden.
There is still much that we do not fully understand about plastic’s long-term toll on human health and the environment. However, we already know enough for the industry to accept that the damage is real, and without intervention, the crisis will only deepen.
Natural polymers offer a genuine, scalable way to change the course, protecting both planetary and human health in the process.
From businesses to regulators, the whole packaging value chain shares a responsibility to act. Where credible alternatives can deliver the required performance, unnecessary plastic should no longer be the default.
Taking this action with innovative plastic-free materials offers the opportunity to make the right choice for the planet.
Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed here by the authors are their own, not those of impakter.com — Cover Photo Credit: Xampla.
