Melodea has introduced MelOx NGen, a water-based, plant-sourced coating designed to line the inside surface of numerous forms of plastic-based food packaging such as films, pouches, bags, lids and blister packs. 

The barrier coatings producer typically created bio-based and renewable materials, MelOx, for paper packaging, but the new iteration is explicitly designed for use on plastic. The product has been engineered to allow for the recyclability of plastic food packaging. 

The company says that in addition to its eco profile, the new barrier has proven superior in maintaining food freshness and substantially reducing plastic waste. It offers an environmentally sustainable and cost-effective alternative to petroleum-based ethyl vinyl alcohol copolymers (EVOH), which are widely used in packaging for their food preservation properties.

"MelOx NGen has very high performance, even better performance than its biggest competitor EVOH. It improves the shelf life of the packed products and therefore reduces overall food waste. MelOx NGen is applied on a mono-plastic structure, allowing recyclability. In addition, when washed from plastic our product is biodegradable, and it contains over 50% renewable materials,” Cee Azerraf, vice president of sales and marketing at Melodea, tells Packaging Insights.

Increasing recyclability 
Azerraf says most plastic packaging available today cannot be recycled due to its multi-structure composition. EVOH, which is typically infused into the thin plastic films of the food packaging to serve as an oxygen barrier, is non-recyclable, preventing the entire package from being recyclable.

“MelOx NGen presents an eco-friendly and cost-effective solution by applying it to various forms of plastics, including monostructure plastics that possess exceptional performance properties and are recyclable. Our solution will also relieve the current bottleneck in the supply of EVOH.”

MelOx NGen is used to line packaging as a transparent layer applied thinly to plastic without a primer. Melodea is rolling out the coating to the plastics industry globally. 

Approved by FDA and The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment for food contact, the coating helps protect and extend the shelf life of foods such as snacks, confectionary, nutrition bars, meats, dairy products and pharmaceuticals.

Melodea states the coating can aid in expanding the scope of plastic food packaging eligible for recycling. “It can empower food packagers to fulfill their sustainability goals and align themselves with government regulations aimed at reducing the utilization of single-use plastics,” writes the company.

Reducing plastic
Melodea references the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive as a part of a long-term strategy for reducing plastic consumption in the EU. The directive sets targets for the recycling and reuse of plastic packaging waste. It established a minimum recycling target of 50% for plastic packaging by 2025, increasing to 55% by 2030. 

Moreover, in 2021 the EU approved a tax of €800 (US$899) per metric ton of non-recycled plastic containers and packaging produced in member states’ markets. The tax aims to incentivize the adoption of recycling practices and discourage the use of non-recyclable materials.

“The global collective effort to drastically curb plastic use is a long and complex process,” asserts Shaul Lapidot, CEO and co-founder of Melodea. “Our holistic solution can help ease the pressure by immediately boosting plastic packaging integration into the circular economy.”