Ooho Gel Packets and Casein Films Take a Bite Out of Plastic Pollution
When American entrepreneur Nathaniel Wyeth patented the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle in 1973, he couldn’t possibly have imagined how this handy, cheap, and disposable item would be part of the global environmental catastrophe facing nations today.
Like other plastic packaging, the PET bottle was invented to replace heavier, more expensive containers such as those made from glass, wood, and paper. Ironically, this innovation became popular just as these other items started to get recycled: UK’s first recyclable glass bottle bank opened in 1977 in Barnsley, England.
The success of plastic bottles changed people’s behavior in the West—from drinking safe, clean water from the tap to buying a plastic bottle of clean water—and created one of the fastest growing industries in the world. Sales of this product grew by 73% in the decade between 2010 and 2020.
A Marathon Problem
However, the problem of disposing plastic bottles grew too. For instance, after London’s 2018 Marathon, an estimated 750,000 bottles littered London’s streets; likely ended up in a landfill. Marathons encourage the public to lead healthier, fulfilling lives while raising millions of dollars for charity, but a downside emerged: These events typically supply hydration to runners with single-use plastic bottles, which are then immediately discarded.
To target this environmental concern, in 2019, the London Marathon organizers cut that waste by over a third by supplying the runners with liquid in 30,000 edible packages called Ooho. The packages are made from seaweed and calcium chloride and created by regenerative packaging company Notpla.
Rather than taking a sip and tossing the bottle away, runners could burst the bubble (Ooho) made from seaweed and swallow it or discard the skin, given that it is edible and biodegradable.
This pollution reducing product has since been used at other major sporting events including the Zevenheuvelenloop marathon in the Netherlands and the Göteborgsvarvet half-marathon in Sweden. It also fills vending machines at the London Aquatics Centre.
Limitations of Edible Packaging
While the idea of getting water from an edible package might seem to be a clever way to replace the ubiquitous plastic variety—a million bottles are sold every minute—the Ooho isn’t quite ready for that. The package is designed for a single gulp rather than the portability and volume that plastic allows. Its delicate membrane also isn’t great for storing in a grocery store without extra packaging, which defeats its original purpose. Yet despite its present limitations, there’s plenty of opportunity, as well as impetus, for further development and improvement.
Other challenges [of edible films] include higher vulnerability to heat, requiring another layer (typically plastic) to protect it from contamination, and higher production costs.
Edible packaging is generally made from edible biopolymers (proteins, lipids, and polysaccharides), plasticizers, or food-grade additives. Their materials include coatings, films, pouches, and sheets. The films should be a good barrier of oxygen (to slow decay), water, and aroma. Compared to PET/PS films, edible films tend to have disadvantages of lower tensile strength and higher water vapor permeability, while having the advantage of higher resistance to oxygen permeability.
Other challenges include higher vulnerability to heat, requiring another layer (typically plastic) to protect it from contamination, and higher production costs. Meanwhile, lipid-based films can be made from fatty acids (monoglycerides, diglycerides, and triglycerides), waxes (such as paraffin), and other oils (such as palm and peanut), raising health concerns.
Packaging Revisited in History
Despite numerous public campaigns to raise awareness of plastic waste, it has continued to rise. A report from the Minderoo Foundation revealed that between 2019 and 2021 the amount of plastic waste rose by 6 million metric tons (6.6 million tons) with recycling unable to scale up quickly enough. With no clear sign that people will give up single-use plastics, science has been looking to the past to solve this 21st century problem.
While it might seem modern, edible packaging was being used to protect our food 600 years before plastic was ever invented. The first known example of edible film used for food preservation was made in the fifteenth century from soymilk (Yuba) in Japan. In the 1930s, emulsions and waxes were developed to coat fruits, with the purpose of improving their appearance, controlling the ripening process, and decreasing the loss of water. By the 1960s, however, comestible packaging had limited commercial appeal and was mainly used as wax coatings on fruit and vegetables.
A Review of Edible Packaging Methods
But as environmental crises have a way of re-focusing the mind, scientists across the world have returned to these old ideas, making incredible advances by using different edible foodstuffs for a variety of purposes as outlined in Edible Food Packaging, edited by Amrita Poonia and Tejpal Dhewa. These include a remarkable range of edible packaging products that can replace plastic varieties.
A multitude of products can be made from fruit residues alone, revealing the potential usefulness of unwanted food. Some of the methods being trialed include a film made from peach puree that can create an oxygen barrier to preserve nuts, confections and baked goods; peel from pomelos that delays oxidation and increases the shelf life of soybean oil; and a pulp formed from arrowroot starch and blackberry that promotes the stability of anthocyanins (a type of antioxidant) found in grapes, apples, and cabbage, making them easier to handle and more attractive to the consumer.
The beauty of using fruit and vegetable waste is that these products are plentiful, as they have the highest percentage of waste amongst all foodstuffs. However, thus far, many of these products are not as efficient as those created from plastic and also take longer to apply to the food being preserved.
For these and other reason, Poonia and Dhewa believe comestible packaging is not yet able to function alone in the market: “Edible films and coatings cannot entirely replace synthetic packaging. Usually, secondary packaging is necessary for handling and hygienic practices.”
“Edible films and coatings cannot entirely replace synthetic packaging. Usually, secondary packaging is necessary for handling and hygienic practices.”
They believe there is a need to combine synthetic and natural packaging: “In this sense, it is important to apply eco-friendly food preservatives to control the loss of the nutritional value of the perishable foods and to reduce the requirements and waste of conventional packaging, improving the economic efficiency of packaging materials.”
Making Edible Packaging Consumer-Friendly
Of course, as a marketable product, there would be no point in creating edible packaging options if consumers won’t buy them, but two recent studies on public perceptions have been positive.
One study published this year evaluated consumer attitude, acceptability and purchasing intentions of 100 participants in Portland, Oregon. The participants were asked to evaluate three types of edible food packaging: muffin liners, cranberry pomace fruit leather wraps, and powdered drink sachets. All were rated positively by the participants, with two-thirds saying they would buy all three products if they came to market.
A 2021 study of a similarly sized group of consumers in Indonesia were asked to try a chili powder that came in an edible gelatine package. It, too, received a positive response, with the consumers highly likely to replace their current unbiodegradable packaging with the new edible product.
If these innovative modern scientists and manufacturers can create edible, biodegradable packaging that is lightweight and easy to transport, then a path to dent the use of single-use plastics may be opened. Biodegradable or edible packaging has the potential to become as commonplace as banana skins.
Meanwhile, conscientious consumers can do their bit to prevent plastic waste by reusing, reducing, recycling the plastic containers used, or eliminating their use altogether.
*Gordon Cairns is a freelance journalist and teacher of English and Forest Schools based in Scotland.