Innovative Biodegradable Packaging Material Made From Potatoes
Addressing the need for new biobased packaging materials, Tomorrow Machine developed GoneShells, an innovative biodegradable bottle made from potatoes.
“Most packaging solutions today are made to last for years or decades. Meanwhile, the food inside goes bad after days or weeks. Inspired by how nature protects its content, GoneShells develops materials with the ability to break down under different conditions and work in symbiosis with what’s inside. Similar to a fruit peel. Made in a material so pure you can eat it. The innovative biodegradable packaging material is made from potato,” according to the GoneShells website.
A translucent, flexible package having a distinct perception from typical packaging materials. New opportunities arise as a result of the possibility of making them edible. Not simply from a sustainability standpoint, but also in terms of whole new methods to design food packaging.
The speed and variety of degrading options are what distinguish GoneShells.
“With a bottle that can be home composted, eaten, or dissolved under the water tap in the kitchen sink, the objectives are to create less strain on recycling systems and reduce problems associated with packaging materials ending up in nature. With a bottle designed to be torn apart after it has been used, the idea is that one can speed up the decomposition process. When you break the packaging and then put it in contact with water, a natural reaction starts to break down the bottle immediately – and that’s how we created a bottle with the ability to disappear by itself,” the product developers say.
New biobased packaging materials are needed, and GoneShells aims to fill that need. The product developers have discussed using the ingredients for their juices and smoothies with Eckes-Granini and Brämhults. With the help of BioInnovation, a partnership between Vinnova, Formas, and the Swedish Energy Agency, development, and prototype design are carried out.