Eco-Friendly Styrofoam Substitute for Sustainable Food Packaging

Food packaging, particularly packaging for fish, relies heavily on the use of Styrofoam (i.e. expanded polystyrene or EPS). The world’s concern for environmental sustainability has prompted a need for eco-friendly alternatives and has led governments to enact single use plastics bans in many areas, such as Montreal and New York. Further, Canada is planning to be “zero-plastic waste by 2030” and over 35 other countries have already banned certain single use plastics.
This multi-year project includes the search for, or the development, of a material that is biodegradable and made from a renewable resource that will replace Styrofoam, for the purpose of food packaging. Along with this material search, a manufacturing solution to make fish boxes at a large scale will mirror this process.

Faculty Supervisor:

Hossein Kazemian

Student:

Nasim Ghavidel Darestani

Partner:

Brown's Bay Packing Ltd.

Discipline:

Other

Sector:

Transportation and warehousing

University:

University of Northern British Columbia