Sustainable Packaging
Compare 7 common food packaging materials including plastic, paper, glass, metal and fibre, and learn how to choose the right option for food.
A coffee pouch, jam jar, takeaway tray and chips packet are all food packaging, but they are made from very different materials.
That is because there is no single best packaging material for food.
The right choice depends on what the food needs. Does it need protection from moisture, oxygen, grease or light? Does the package need to be rigid or flexible? How long does the product need to stay fresh? And how will it be filled, sealed, transported and disposed of?
A recent review on food packaging materials and their development looks at plastics, paper, glass, metals and emerging bio-based materials, showing how each solves a different packaging problem.
Here are seven material categories and where each one makes sense.
1. Plastic works across almost every packaging format
Plastic became common in food packaging because it is incredibly adaptable.
It can become a rigid bottle, a transparent tray, a thin wrapper or a flexible pouch. Different polymers can provide strength, moisture resistance, transparency and heat-sealing properties while keeping the package lightweight.
This makes plastic especially useful for products such as snacks, frozen foods, beverages and flexible pouches.
The challenge appears when several plastics or other materials are combined to achieve higher performance. Research on multilayer packaging and recycling shows how permanently bonded material combinations can make recovery and recycling more difficult.
2. Paper and paperboard work well when designed for the food
Paper is used for cartons, boxes, wrappers, cups, sachets and an increasing range of flexible formats.
It prints well, can be converted into different shapes and provides a fibre-based starting material.
But the paper we use for food packaging is often more than plain paper.
Untreated paper has limited resistance to moisture, grease and gases. Depending on the food, coatings or other treatments may be added to give it the required functionality.
This means that when we choose “paper packaging”, we should look at the complete material structure rather than only the paper underneath.
3. Glass provides a strong barrier
Glass is commonly used for sauces, pickles, jams, beverages and other foods where flavour and aroma protection matter.
It provides a strong barrier against moisture and gases and is relatively inert when used appropriately for food contact. A review of traditional and emerging food packaging materials discusses glass as one of the established packaging materials used where strong protection is required.
Its disadvantages are more practical. Glass is heavier than many other materials, requires more space during transport and can break.
That makes it a very good material for some foods, but impractical for lightweight flexible applications.
4. Metal is useful when long shelf life and strength matter
Aluminium and steel are used in cans, beverage containers, trays and other packaging where strong protection is required.
Metal provides an excellent barrier against oxygen, moisture and light while also giving the package significant physical strength.
This is one reason canned foods can achieve long shelf lives.
But metal is a rigid packaging format. If a brand needs something lightweight, foldable or pouch-like, a different material system may make more sense.
5. Moulded fibre creates rigid shapes from plant fibres
Egg cartons, takeaway trays and food-service bowls are familiar examples of moulded fibre packaging.
These materials can use wood pulp as well as fibres from sources such as sugarcane bagasse, wheat and bamboo. Research into moulded pulp packaging from alternative fibres shows how agricultural residues and other fibre sources are increasingly being explored for packaging applications.
Moulded fibre works particularly well where a package needs shape, cushioning or rigidity.
But like paper, fibre naturally has limitations around water and grease. Food-contact applications may therefore still require additional treatment depending on what is being packed.
6. Bio-based polymers create another route to flexible packaging
Some packaging polymers can be made partly or fully from renewable biological resources.
These include materials derived from starch, cellulose and other biological feedstocks.
They can be processed into films, coatings and other packaging structures, but their performance varies significantly. Research on bio-based and biodegradable polymers for food packaging continues to examine how properties such as moisture resistance, mechanical strength and heat performance can be improved.
It is also important not to assume that bio-based automatically means biodegradable or compostable. Those characteristics need to be assessed separately.
7. Multilayer packaging combines materials to get more performance
Sometimes one material cannot provide everything a food needs.
A pouch may need one function for strength, another for oxygen protection, another for moisture resistance and another for sealing.
Combining materials can solve those problems very effectively, which is why multilayer structures became common in flexible food packaging.
The trade-off is that the same complexity that improves performance can make the final package harder to recover after use.
The better packaging question is therefore not how many layers we can add, but whether we can provide the required functions using the simplest practical structure.
Start with the food, not the material
When brands look at new packaging, it can be tempting to begin with statements such as “we want paper” or “we want to eliminate plastic”.
The product should come first.
Coffee needs protection from oxygen, moisture and aroma loss. Chips need protection from humidity to remain crisp. Oily foods may require grease resistance. Frozen products need materials that continue working at low temperatures.
Food-contact safety also needs to be considered across the complete package. The U.S. FDA guidance on food packaging and food-contact substances includes not only the base packaging material but also components such as coatings and adhesives.
A useful packaging-material decision therefore asks:
What does this food need the package to do?
Once we know that, we can decide which material or combination of materials is appropriate.
Where Pippa fits in the packaging material mix
At Pippa, we are particularly interested in what happens when paper is given more functionality.
Our approach uses a bio-based coating made from agricultural waste and applies it to paper or biofilm substrates. The coating is designed to provide water, oxygen, oil and grease barriers along with heat-sealing properties.
Pippa is also positioned as home compostable, PFAS-free and microplastic-free, with OTR and WVTR values below 1 and compatibility with form-fill-seal machinery. You can explore more about Pippa’s packaging technology.
The idea is not that coated paper should replace glass, metal or every type of plastic.
Instead, it gives food brands another material option to test when they need flexible packaging with the familiarity of paper and additional functional performance.
That is ultimately how we should think about packaging materials: not as a competition to find one universal winner, but as a process of matching the right material to the job the food actually needs it to do.
FAQs
1. What are the main types of food packaging materials?
Common food packaging materials include plastic, paper and paperboard, glass, metal, moulded fibre, bio-based polymers and multilayer structures.
2. Which packaging material is best for food?
There is no single best option. The right packaging material depends on the food’s sensitivity to moisture, oxygen, grease, light, temperature and shelf-life requirements.
3. How do food brands choose the right packaging material?
Brands usually consider product protection, shelf life, food-contact safety, machinery compatibility, transport requirements, cost and end-of-life options.
4. Why are different foods packed in different materials?
Different foods need different levels of protection. Coffee needs oxygen and aroma protection, snacks need moisture resistance, and oily foods often need grease barriers.
5. What is the difference between rigid and flexible food packaging?
Rigid packaging keeps its shape, such as glass jars, cans and trays. Flexible packaging includes films, wrappers and pouches that can bend or fold.
6. Is paper a good material for food packaging?
Paper can work well for many food applications, but it may need functional coatings to provide additional moisture, oxygen, grease or sealing performance.
7. Can paper replace plastic in flexible food packaging?
In some applications, yes. Coated paper can be considered where it can meet the required barrier, sealing, shelf-life and processing performance.
8. Why are coatings used on paper food packaging?
Coatings help give paper properties it does not naturally provide, such as resistance to water, oxygen, oil and grease or the ability to heat seal.
9. Where does Pippa fit among food packaging materials?
Pippa uses a bio-based coating made from agricultural waste to give paper additional barrier and heat-sealing functionality for flexible packaging applications.
10. Can Pippa be used for every food product?
No. Different foods have different packaging requirements, so Pippa-based structures still need to be tested for the specific product, shelf life and production process.
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