Taking the plastic out of food packaging

Finding an inexpensive, flexible and sustainable way to package food is a challenge. Nfinite Nanotech is developing a small-but-mighty solution.

The world is drowning in plastic: Each year, we discard 300,000,000 tons of the stuff, and less than 10 percent of that waste is recycled. One of the biggest culprits? The food packaging industry. Every year, approximately 227 million kilograms of plastic food packaging is sent to Canadian landfills. But the main pros of plastic — it’s cheap to produce and easy to use to keep food fresh and transportable — mean many companies are leery about switching over to more sustainable options.

Chee Hau Teoh, a Waterloo-based entrepreneur, was horrified by these stats — especially once he realized that massive amounts of this waste were being shipped off to his home country, Malaysia. While working on his master’s degree in mechanical and mechatronics engineering at the University of Waterloo, he began developing novel nanocoatings with fellow student Jhi Yong Loke and professor Kevin Musselman. Their collaboration led to a substance with many potential applications, from batteries and solar cells to semiconductors and membrane technologies. The three realized their innovation could provide a viable alternative to tackle one of the packaging industry’s pain points: a thin, flexible material that could help keep food fresh. In 2021, Teoh and his collaborators founded Nfinite Nanotech.

While new regulations and consumer pressure are increasing demand for more eco-friendly options, these swaps aren’t a straight substitute for plastic. “Sustainable packaging alternatives, including recyclable plastic, compostable bioplastics and paper, do not provide an adequate barrier to the water and oxygen that cause products to spoil,” says Teoh. Because of this, he notes, companies that provide packaged goods to consumers (and their suppliers) are eager to find solutions that effectively protect against spoilage without increasing waste.

Crafted from advanced ceramic material, Nfinite’s super-thin coating — it’s a thousand times thinner than human hair — creates a glass-like barrier on paper. This means it can block moisture and oxygen, Teoh says, “helping paper packaging achieve shelf-life performance comparable to current multilayered, non-recyclable plastics.”

We asked Teoh about what prompted him to focus his attention on teeny-tiny tech, how the industry is responding to this nanoscale solution and why a simple switch could make a significant difference.

What did you do career-wise before you co-founded Nfinite?

During my master’s, I had the opportunity to work at Tesla, where I was part of their autopilot and electronics product design team at their Palo Alto headquarters. It was a dream come true to work on innovative products. I realized, however, that if I didn’t work at Tesla, many others would, but if I didn’t found Nfinite to commercialize this technology for the greater good, nobody would.

What was your a-ha! moment after you came up with this novel technology?

We were looking for a nail to hit with our newly built hammer. Our eureka moment came when we turned our attention to the packaging industry. After engaging with over 100 brand owners and packaging experts, we discovered a common struggle: the need to adopt environmentally friendly packaging solutions while maintaining product freshness.

It became clear that our advanced materials and nanotechnology could revolutionize the traditional packaging industry, addressing one of the most pressing challenges faced by brands today. We saw an opportunity to make a significant impact on reducing plastic waste and promoting sustainability in packaging.

What are the challenges facing sustainable food packaging?

Many sustainable packaging solutions are not performing as well as non-recyclable multilayered packaging and are often more expensive. Existing solutions either incorporate large amounts of plastic, have low paper content or lack high-barrier performance. The nanoscale nature of our coating is critical; it enables the coating to impart the required barrier properties while retaining the sustainable characteristics of all classes of sustainable packaging materials. Our nanocoatings do not compromise on the performance, recyclability and compostability required by brand owners. They significantly enhance and preserve the performance of packaging for long shelf-life products.

Plastic is so prevalent because it’s so easy to produce, it’s flexible, it’s food-safe. How challenging is it to get industry to adopt alternatives?

It took decades of optimization for traditional plastic to reach its current performance and cost level. So it won’t be a walk in the park to scale up alternatives. The solutions need to perform on par with or better than traditional multilayered plastic. However, stricter regulations aimed at curbing plastic pollution are hastening the shift to sustainable alternatives. We are seeing brands experimenting with compostable packaging and paper and more players entering the space with innovative ideas. I am confident we can make sustainable packaging ubiquitous in the coming years.

What has the response from industry players been like so far?

There’s been a range of feedback. While early adopters are eager to invest, others remain skeptical and prefer a wait-and-see approach. Despite this, we’re gaining significant traction within the industry, which is driving change. Our primary challenge now is to determine the economies of scale for our technology. We are excited to launch pilot products with our customers and continue growing the team to support this effort.

There are so many environmental problems to address. Is it hard convincing people to care about what’s inside their cans and other small measures?

Every small action, like caring about a candy wrapper, adds up to make a significant impact. Mike Smith’s work at ZeroCo, cleaning up beaches, is living proof that the cumulative effect of individual efforts can turn dreams into reality. With global pledges to drastically reduce plastic waste, regulatory forces are setting new standards that brand owners must follow. Sustainable packaging is no longer optional; it is a non-negotiable necessity.

Photo courtesy of Nfinite Nanotech