Melodea develops cellulose-based materials as cost-effective plastic pollution solution

07 Dec 2021 --- Israeli tech start-up Melodea is releasing two cellulose-based materials that it says can provide a viable solution to the world’s plastic waste crisis. Based on Cellulose NanoCrystals (CNC), the solutions are designed to replace traditional polymers in packaging with equal anti-humidity and anti-moisture properties for F&B products.

Speaking to PackagingInsights, Melodea CEO Dr. Shaul Lapidot says the company has invented the material to perform at the same level as plastics and offer cost-competitiveness. 

“The plastic industry has been around for many years – as a high performing non-expensive material. Melodea’s challenge was to find solutions that are economically affordable but maintain the same high-performance attributes.”

“For that reason, we are using the ideal resource that is economically affordable and available in vast quantities being sourced from industrial forests. We have invested in extensive R&D efforts to reach the best performance and enable our clients to use existing machinery for easy integration.”

Melodea has already raised US$20 million in a series C funding round, with key investments from global leaders across the chemistry and forestry pulp and paper industries. The technology is also protected by 14 patents, including several covering its production processes and product portfolio. 

Cellulose power 
Cellulose is the primary building block of the cell walls of all plants and is the most abundant biopolymer on the planet, explains Lapidot. 

“It provides plants with extraordinary strength and is a lightweight – yet strong – material. We found this bounteous and renewable material can be utilized to produce novel, eco-friendly packaging alternatives for the packaging industry,” he says. 

Melodea applies proprietary technology to extract cellulose nanocrystals from wood pulp sourced from trees grown in industrial forests.The company applies proprietary technology to extract cellulose nanocrystals from wood pulp sourced from trees grown in industrial forests. The environmentally sustainable barrier coatings are designed to offer protection from oxygen, oil, grease, and water vapor transmission. 

The coatings help maintain the quality and integrity of the packaged foods inside, while eliminating the need for aluminum and plastic. As a forestry by-product, it is also compostable, recyclable, and completely non-toxic for people and the environment. Once finished with the package, consumers can simply throw it into the recycling bin. 

Matching strident demands
According to Lapidot, consumers are imposing more strident demands when it comes to the welfare of the planet, and this increasingly resonates in their purchasing behavior. “Concurrently, the supply chain is ‘greening’ up its act, especially in light of legislative measures curbing plastic use,” he explains.

“The Melodea barrier coating helps the packaging industry make a smoother shift from petroleum-based plastics to plant-based materials, without compromising safety or performance.” 

Lapidot says Melodea’s use of CNC can help packagers comply with the recently introduced EU Single-Use Plastics Directive, which bans the ten most polluting single-use plastic items littering European beaches. 

Packaging in harmony with nature
The company’s liquid formulas can be applied as a coating to various substrates, including paper, paperboard, bioplastic, and conventional plastic. The formulas serve companies across the packaging value chain, from paper and packaging producers to consumer goods manufacturers and food companies. 

“It is no secret the solution for a sustainable and circular packaging industry necessitates moving to bio-based materials,” asserts Zvika Weiss, CFO of Melodea. “Our cellulose-based barrier coatings offer an economically affordable, naturally abundant, and sustainable alternative to oil-based products. More importantly, its raw material lives in harmony with nature – it comes from the forest, and it returns to the earth at the end of its lifecycle.”

The high-barrier coatings can be tailored to a broad range of packaging products, such as pouches, lids, and food and beverage cartons. It is also suitable for packaging both dry and liquid products.

“Our coatings can easily be integrated into standard industrial coating lines, including slot dies, rod coaters, and gravures,” Weiss adds. “The coatings already are in pilot use by a number of major companies.”

By Louis Gore-Langton