Packaging: Sealed Air and Ecovative create new packaging material

Sealed Air Corporation and Ecovative Design have announced that they will work together to accelerate the production, sales and distribution of Ecovative’s EcoCradle Mushroom Packaging, a new technology for environmentally responsible packaging materials made from agricultural byproducts and mycelium, or “mushroom roots”.

Founded in 2007 and incubated at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Ecovative adapts living systems to create novel biomaterials and products. EcoCradle Mushroom Packaging is a cost-effective and home compostable product that is made from renewable, non-food agriculture materials. The products are used by a number of Fortune 500 Companies and have won a number of prestigious awards in packaging, including the DuPont Packaging Innovation Diamond Award, the Greener Package “Innovator of the Year” award and Popular Science’s “Best of What’s New”.

“Ecovative is extremely excited to be partnering with Sealed Air to bring EcoCradle packaging to a world-wide audience. Over the last 5 years, Ecovative has established itself as a leader in sustainable, cost effective biomaterials. We are thrilled to combine this with Sealed Air’s global sales network, strong packaging design capabilities, and world-class supply chain. Together we are furthering our vision and broadening our impact, providing an innovative and effective alternative to petrochemical based packaging at a much larger scale,” said Eben Bayer, CEO of Ecovative.

Sealed Air’s Protective Packaging business delivers an extensive portfolio of protective, industrial and display packaging systems to meet diverse application requirements across a broad range of industries. Sealed Air operates 35 Packaging Design and Development Centers globally and delivers a compelling value proposition that comes from a total solution approach that positively benefits multiple areas of customer operations – ultimately driving efficiencies and business value from the plant floor to their customers’ doorsteps.

“We are excited by the prospects of working with Ecovative. This entrepreneurial team has created fundamental material technology, using the unique properties of mycelium, to provide solutions to packaging, as well as other applications. Ecovative has been able to use its science to manipulate material properties, varying density, strength, texture, and appearance to meet different performance needs of a variety of customer applications,” said Ryan Flanagan, President of Sealed Air’s Protective Packaging business. “Coupling Ecovative’s technology with Sealed Air’s packaging knowledge and infrastructure will allow us to accelerate this innovation to meet our customers’ needs.”