Corn-based laminate: a step towards plastic-free publishing

As well as laminate, the startup has also developed a biodegradable packaging foil

Spotted: Laminating – the process of gluing a thin layer of plastic to paper or cardboard – is used to seal and preserve print materials. However, while paper and cardboard are biodegradable, the plastic laminate is not. This creates a big problem when it comes to recycling, as it is almost impossible to separate the plastic from the paper.

Startup Lam’on believes it has an answer. Its thermal lamination is made from Polylactic Acid (PLA), a polymer derived from corn, making it 100 per cent biodegradable and compostable. Unlike some other solutions, Lam’on’s laminate can be used on existing machines and is priced competitively with petroleum-based laminates.

Not content to stop with laminate, the company has also developed a clear packaging foil, Pack’on, which is also fully biodegradable and can be composted. Again, made from PLA, Pack’on has powerful oxygen barrier properties to make it suitable for food packaging. The company is also in the process of developing an antibacterial feature to even prolong fresh produce.

Lam’on co-founder and COO Gergana Stancheva, told Springwise that Lam’on was founded “with the goal to prove that printing and packaging can be sustainable and still be relevant to the current visual and design trends.” The startup hopes its foils will reduce the use of petroleum-based plastics used in packaging and printing and build “a modern and diverse production business”.

Stancheva and co-founder and CEO Angela Ivanova have spent the past 12 months growing their team, perfecting recipes, and setting up a production facility in Sofia, Bulgaria. They plan to officially launch both Lam’on and Pack’on in the European market in 2024.

Eliminating plastic is also the goal of other recent innovations spotted by Springwise, including plastic-free sponges and scourers and a packing material made from fungi and hemp.

Written By: Lisa Magloff