In a major step forward for sustainable packaging, Xampla and the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) have developed a pioneering test to validate the company’s claim that its Morro™ materials – made from natural plant polymers - are plastic-free and SUPD-exempt. The breakthrough provides packaging manufacturers with credible assurance that Xampla’s Morro materials meet tightening UK and EU regulations on single-use plastics, while also establishing the foundation for a first-of-its-kind validation method for plastic-free claims.
There is currently no universally accepted method for verifying that a material is plastic-free, despite increasing regulatory pressure to eliminate single-use plastics. With businesses from global packaging manufacturers to local takeaway outlets urgently seeking alternatives that offer the same functionality as plastic but without the environmental harm, Xampla partnered with NPL through its Measurement for Business (M4B) programme to develop a way of verifying plastic-free claims.
The EU’s REACH regulation defines plastics as “polymers to which additives or other substances have been added” and highlights that natural polymers which have not been chemically modified are not plastics. NPL scientists used advanced spectroscopy and high-resolution microscopy to compare the chemical and physical signatures of Morro’s natural polymers before and after processing. The results showed no meaningful chemical changes, confirming that Xampla’s Morro materials are not chemically modified, are therefore not plastic according to the EU REACH definition, and are SUPD-exempt.
Many consumers are unaware that common household paper and cardboard packaging often contains a thin plastic coating, making it unrecyclable and destined for landfill. Xampla’s Morro™ line of coatings and films, already adopted by organisations such as Just Eat Takeaway, offer comparable grease and water resistance to plastic but are made only from natural polymers derived from plants. These Morro materials are biodegradable, home compostable, and compatible with existing recycling infrastructure - and critically, are designed to be plastic-free.
Dr Marc Rodriguez Garcia, Co-Founder and CTO, Xampla said: “Given the rapid pace of regulatory change, packaging companies desperately need credible assurance about any plastic-free product they buy. We hope this approach — the first of its kind as far as we know — can now be replicated by others to support plastic-free innovation more broadly. For Xampla, this work with NPL conclusively proves that our Morro materials are plastic-free at a chemical level and so meet existing regulations. Having the data from world-leading independent measurement scientists lets us alleviate doubts of even the most cautious customers.”
The validation has already helped Xampla secure new contracts and opens the door to a high-value market. According to Smithers, the market for functional and barrier coatings for paper and board is projected to reach 4.25 million tonnes, worth nearly $11 billion, by 2028. Xampla aims to replace 10 billion items of single-use plastic with its Morro materials over the next five years.
Professor Max Ryadnov, NPL Fellow, said: “Eventually, this work could lead to the development of standards to support plastic-free materials and processes used to manufacture them. Such standards will provide manufacturers and regulators with clear and internationally recognised benchmarks against which plastic-free claims can be verified.”