TotalEnergies Corbion PLA foam targets meat and poultry packaging pressures
Biobased material is designed as a drop-in alternative for XPS trays, offering comparable performance with a lower carbon footprint.
Luminy Foam 50F trays with meat
The meat and poultry industry is facing growing pressure to reduce packaging waste and lower carbon emissions without compromising food safety, product protection or operational efficiency. As sustainability targets tighten and regulations on expanded polystyrene (XPS/EPS) continue to expand globally, processors and packaging manufacturers are actively searching for alternatives that can fit within existing production systems while offering improved environmental performance.
For decades, foamed XPS trays have been the preferred choice for fresh protein packaging because of their lightweight structure, moisture resistance, thermal insulation, and protective performance throughout the supply chain. These properties remain essential for meat and poultry applications, where packaging must protect products from processing facilities to retail shelves while maintaining product freshness and presentation.
To address these evolving industry needs, TotalEnergies Corbion is introducing Luminy Foam 50F, a new high melt-strength PLA grade specifically developed as a drop-in solution for PS materials to produce extruded XPS protein trays.
Designed for extrusion foaming applications, Luminy Foam 50F enables converters and packaging manufacturers to produce lightweight foamed trays suitable for meat, poultry and fresh food packaging while reducing reliance on fossil-based plastics. Unlike existing PLA foam solutions, Luminy Foam 50F does not require melt strength enhancers or reactive processing to achieve low-density foam structures. This simplifies processing and improves manufacturing efficiency.
Luminy Foam 50F is engineered to run on most of the existing XPS extrusion foaming lines with similar throughput with minimal adjustments. Existing foaming gasses can still be used, and the process generally only requires the addition of dryers, enabling converters to transition without major capital investment or operational disruption.
From a performance standpoint, Luminy Foam 50F is designed to produce foamed products that provide density and functional properties comparable to conventional XPS trays. The material maintains the key benefits foam packaging is known for, including lightweight performance, moisture resistance, thermal insulation, mechanical strength for high-speed overwrapping production lines and product protection - critical characteristics for fresh protein applications.
Beyond performance, sustainability remains at the core of the new material. Luminy Foam 50F is made from 100% biobased PLA derived from renewable resources and is designed to reduce the foam-part carbon footprint by approximately 70% compared with traditional XPS trays, according to preliminary internal studies.
The material also offers multiple end-of-life options, including recyclability and industrial compostability. Designed for food contact, XPS drop-in trays are preferred for composting. Under EN13432 industrial compostability testing on protein tray prototypes, Luminy Foam parts (2.6mm thickness) demonstrated disintegration within two to four weeks under controlled composting conditions. However, with sufficient upstream volumes, recyclability could also be feasible with the same equipment and value chain as for XPS.
Health and safety considerations are also becoming increasingly important in food packaging selection. Luminy Foam 50F is FDA food contact approved, styrene-free and PFAS-free, aligning with growing industry demand for safer material solutions. In addition, PLA materials are designed not to generate persistent microplastics, addressing another emerging concern among regulators and consumers.
Global legislation is also reinforcing the shift away from traditional polystyrene foams. Restrictions or bans on EPS/XPS foodservice packaging are already in place in several regions, including parts of Europe, Canada, India, China and multiple states in USA or Australia.
For the meat and poultry industry, the challenge is no longer simply identifying sustainable materials - it is finding solutions capable of combining performance, scalability, processing efficiency, and regulatory alignment. With Luminy Foam 50F, TotalEnergies Corbion aims to provide the protein packaging industry with this practical and sustainable pathway.
Source: TotalEnergies Corbion
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