Welsh industry-university partnership develops coconut husk-based packaging material

10 May 2024 --- Woodfree, a Cardiff-based company founded by an entrepreneurial family, is working with Bangor University’s Biocomposites Centre to turn the by-product of coconut production into a low-cost, environmentally sustainable feedstock to produce low-cost fibers for paper and packaging materials.

The company’s vision is to reduce deforestation to produce paper used for packaging. For the past few years, Woodfree has been researching non-wood sustainable materials and found that coconut husk was “especially abundant, neglected and readily available.”

Woodfree is taking its research to the next level through an Innovate UK Transformative Technologies grant, accelerating the material’s development. 

“Coconut is grown all around the world for its flesh and oil, and this leaves behind a husk that’s more often than not left to rot or, in the worst-case scenario, burnt,” explains Dr. Rob Elias, director at Bangor University’s Biocomposites Centre. 

“This can create problems in the regions where coconut is grown, such as Sri Lanka and India, including those associated with human health, such as malaria. We also know that we are still overdependent on plastic packaging and the harm this does to our planet.”

“It, therefore, makes sense to try and find an alternative use for the coconut husk from a social and environmental perspective. Through a process of R&D, working alongside us here at the Biocomposites Centre, Woodfree has developed a way of extracting cellulose fibers from the coconut husks and named it ‘Eco-Pulp,’” Elias continues.

Coconut is grown around the world for its flesh and oil, leaving behind a husk suitable for fiber-based packaging.Scaling and commercializing 
Gurpreet Singh from Woodfree comments: “We are happy to be working with the team at the Biocomposites Centre on this. Together, we’ve processed something in the region of just under a ton of waste coconut husks, making them into fiber and then assessing this pulp in terms of strength, durability, mouldability, reaction to water and stack-ability — all critical practical considerations in making the product ready for the market.”

“We’re now at the stage where we’re producing prototype packaging such as trays and punnets that can be used to showcase what could be produced using these fibers.”

Woodfree approached Bangor University’s Biocomposites Centre over a year ago to work on a small commercial project to scale up the work and use the center’s scientific knowledge in bio-based alternatives to synthetic materials in manufacturing and industry to find out whetherthe project was scalable and had the potential to be commercialized.

“It’s great to be working with the Woodfree team, as they are highly motivated and have a real vision for using science and innovation to put something good back into the world. Getting to help them develop their ideas is exciting, and having the support of the Innovate UK grant has helped speed up the development phase,” says Elias.

“Funding like this is critical to help SMEs develop their ideas, in this case with the ultimate goal of expanding manufacturing capability here in the UK.” 

Edited by Natalie Schwertheim