Fiberdom advances plastic-free “supermaterial” tech for food packs
Fiberdom, a Finland-based wood fiber start-up, has secured a €3.5 million (US$3.8 million) fund to develop its patented technology and plastic-free material for food packaging items. The funding was raised from Heino Group, a long-term investor, and three new investors: Nordic Foodtech, Holdic, and Business Finland.
Fiberdom technology transforms market pulp and paperboard into a “supermaterial” that is plastic-free, cost-efficient, recyclable, and home-compostable. The start-up aims to replace non-essential plastics with scalable, circular solutions. It offers plastic-free cutlery, food-contact materials, durable packaging and storage, and furniture.
Tomi Järvenpää, general manager at Fiberdom, says: “This substantial investment, especially in today’s challenging funding environment, reflects the confidence our investors have in Fiberdom’s team and its capabilities, the potential of our supermaterial, technology, and mission.”
“We have tested our material in numerous applications and discovered it has massive potential. The commitment from both long-term and new investors underscores the value of what we’re building — a future driven by smarter materials that deliver durability and high performance without plastic.”
Plastic-free food packaging
Consumer demands, corporate sustainability commitments, and regulations drive Fiberdom’s patented technology. It helps the pulp and paper industry develop innovative alternatives that limit reliance on plastic in non-essential applications.
According to Fiberdom, creating durable fiber-based solutions is challenging, as they often require additives that compromise recyclability.
”Replacing single-use plastics in food packaging and serving and eating on-the-go food is one of the key pain points in the food system, both for the industry and the consumers. Fiberdom’s technology addresses all four critical corners of a winning solution: functionality, scalability, sustainability, and recyclability,” says Pekka Siivonen-Uotila, partner at Nordic Foodtech.
Packing providers invest in fiber-based solutions to reduce reliance on plastics and increase paper content. For example, Elopak recently announced its investment in Blue Ocean Closures, becoming a co-owner of the Swedish sustainability start-up specializing in fiber-based closures.
Plastic-free food packaging alternatives, like fiber-based solutions, are also becoming increasingly popular due to consumer concern about the presence of microplastics in food packaging.
Researchers from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain, provided insights into how tea bags contribute to daily human ingestion of micro- and nanoplastics. The study confirmed the release of MNPLs from three commercially available tea bags, which all showed varying levels of nano-range particle internalization in human intestinal cells.
