Foam packaging made from food waste

Cruz Foam

The new foam safely biodegrades without leaving behind toxic residues

Spotted: Most packaging, from Styrofoam to bubble wrap, is petroleum-based. In fact, the world produces around 141 million tonnes of plastic packaging a year, and about a third of that leaks from collection systems and ends up polluting the environment. Cruz Foam is tackling this mountain of unsustainable packaging with a compostable alternative made from agricultural food waste and starch.

Cruz foams have properties similar to conventional foams, making them ideal for protective materials, insulation, and customised packaging for industries like electronics and luxury goods. The foam is lightweight, strong, shock-absorbing, food-safe, and thermally insulating, making it useful for cold chain logistics and easy to integrate into existing supply chains.

The foam is also certified compostable, and some product lines can be dissolved without affecting water treatment facilities. Once composted, the material produces a high-quality organic waste that can be used as nutrient-rich fertiliser or biogas.

The idea stemmed from a research project at UC Santa Cruz led by company Co-founders John Felts and Marco Rolandi. The pair were working with a biopolymer called chitin and realised it could be used to replace the petroleum-based foam in surfboards. Recognising that its impact could grow beyond surfing, Felts and Rolandi shifted their focus to replacing single-use plastics in the protective packaging and cold-chain industries.

One of the early investors in Cruz Foam was Sustainable Ocean Alliance, a non-profit that funds projects focused on restoring the health of Earth’s oceans. The company’s strategy for scaling up involves implementing strategic partnerships with large-scale manufacturers to expand production capacity to meet increasing demand. Leveraging a channel distribution model, Cruz collaborates with converters, fabricators, distributors, and packaging designers to integrate Cruz Foam into diverse applications.

Written By: Lisa Magloff