Corn-foam wine shippers can be enviro win

(NBBJ) - Consumers often have limited options for recycling the petroleum-based foam that cushions and insulates wine bottles during shipment, but a Napa Valley wine packaging company thinks it has found a way to make such recycling as easy as turning on a water spigot or stirring a compost pile.

Vinpak recently said it inked an exclusive deal with a Michigan-based maker of a proprietary packing foam made totally from cornstarch that doesn’t come from genetically modified crops. Vinpack worked with KTM Industries to develop die-cut slabs of its Green Cell Foam to accommodate wine bottles as well as create corner pieces to protect decorative wooden boxes for bottled wine. Even the glue used in the shipper is made from cornstarch.

“The advantage over Syrofoam is that this absorbs moisture, which can ruin labels,” said Lynne Weaver, Vinpak’s new sales and marketing manager, referring to Dow Chemical’s brand of expanded polystyrene foam that has become synonymous with insulating rigid-foam packaging. That moisture largely can come from condensation on chiller packs included with a shipment to keep the wine near cellar temperature, she noted.

While it can absorb a lot of water, including being in 95 percent humidity for two days, Green Cell Foam is designed to dissolve after soaked in a tub or sink. The starchy water can be poured on plants as food. The material passed ASTM D6400 biodegradability protocols — breaks down in 60 days or less in compost.