SBIR Phase II: Sustainable Packaging Foam

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project is the reduction in single use plastics that contribute to landfill waste and ocean plastic pollution by replacing these plastics in packaging with a fully biodegradable and naturally sourced alternative. Increasing consumer demand for more sustainable solutions as well as the rapid growth of ecommerce shipping has created an urgent industry need for companies to replace traditional materials with sustainable packaging. This project develops a bio-benign foam that can be produced at scale with drop-in compatible manufacturing processes to create superior biodegradable packaging products at similar cost to traditional expanded polystyrene products. This Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project will scale the production processes of a chitin-based foam to be used as protective packaging. Chitin is a polysaccharide derived from shrimp shell waste. The project fully develop a scalable extrusion process that creates high quality foam and is well-suited to scale for mass production at volumes required to service the packaging industry. With this project, the extrusion process developed can be implemented with supply chain partners to show a fully scalable sustainable packaging material that can meet the increasing demands of the industry. The goals are to achieve high volume production with partners and create protective packaging with the same mechanical performance and density as expanded polystyrene. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.