The coatings industry faces two challenges as it moves toward a circular economy: lowering dependency on inputs sourced from fossil fuels while facilitating end-of-life processes like recycling, composting, or reuse. Conventional coatings hinder material recovery and increase environmental persistence since they are made with non-biodegradable polymers and petrochemical resins. Driven by the shift towards sustainable packaging solutions, the biodegradable and compostable packaging market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.8% through 2029, replacing single-use fossil-based plastics.

Regarding sustainability, manufacturers can reduce their carbon footprints by using bio-based coatings made from renewable resources such as lignin, vegetable oils, by-product cutin, polysaccharides, proteins, lipids and starches. Compared to synthetic polymers, the coatings offer resistance to water, oil, grease and oxygen, reducing the need for multilayer, hard-to-recycle structures while extending shelf life and minimizing food waste.

Initiatives like BIOnTop optimize bio-based coatings for specific EoL scenarios, like home composting and organic recycling, through eco-design and customization. This makes it possible to customize color and fragrance, increasing the number of uses while maintaining sustainability. By reducing reliance on potentially harmful synthetic additives and providing robust barriers against pollutants like MOSH/MOAH, bio-based coatings, including cutin dispersions, enhance food safety.

Recent innovations indicate the viability of these strategies on a commercial scale. In 2024, Eastman and UPM created a compostable biopolymer-coated paper that combines Eastman's bio-based Solus additives with BioPBS for improved oxygen and grease barriers. This provides a recyclable and compostable packaging solution for confectionery, meat pies and chilled foods, supporting circularity.

The Rise of Bio-Based Biodegradable Coatings

Bio-based coatings are formulations derived entirely or partly from renewable resources. These materials are designed for biodegradability and compatibility with the recycling infrastructure, making them well-suited for circular product design.

Based on initial R&D and pilot implementations in 2022, the EU-funded REFUCOAT project initiated bio-based coatings for food packaging. REFUCOAT's PGA/PHA coatings were created for monolayer food packaging to substitute non-recyclable multilayer plastics. These products were tested for food contact safety with no detectable migration of chemicals in the first trial. The coatings themselves, though, are still at a pilot stage, not yet commercially available products. In July 2023, Melodea introduced MelOx NGen, a water-based, plant-based bio-coating for plastic and paper food packaging (films, pouches, lids), as a bio-based alternative to EVOH, allowing recyclable monomaterial packaging. MelOx NGen meets FDA and Germany's BfR food-contact regulations.

In parallel, Ecovio was added to BASF's portfolio between 2023 and 2024. It is a certified compostable biopolymer blend of biodegradable BASF polymer Ecoflex (PBAT) and polylactic acid (PLA) sourced from renewable resources, with over 70% bio-based content. With its exceptional barrier qualities against liquids, fats, grease and mineral oil, as well as its temperature stability up to 100 °C, Ecovio is used as an extrusion coating on paper and board packaging. This makes it appropriate for hot and cold food packaging applications, including cups, bowls, trays, wrappers and takeout containers. Following local requirements, the ecovio® 70 PS14H6 grade is certified for home and industrial compostability and is permitted for food contact.

Year 2024 witnessed the increased commercial use of protein, polysaccharide and lipid-based coatings for food packaging and preservation. Advances in nano-encapsulation and functional additives for enhanced barrier and antimicrobial properties were a strong uptake in fresh produce, dairy and snack packaging sectors.

In late 2024, Biobarc was launched by Earthodic, a 100% bio-based, water-resistant coating for paper packaging that enables full recyclability and replaces conventional wax coatings. Certified by the USDA and the American Fiber Box Association, Biobarc™ supports circularity while capturing carbon equivalent to 370 trees per tonne of recycled cardboard. The formulation is heavy metal and allergen-free, addressing major safety issues in lignin sourcing.

In 2025, companies like BASF and Nature Coatings ramped up production of food-contact safe bio-based coatings, while others such as Ecoat continued to advance bio-based binder technologies for architectural and industrial applications. These developments mark a trend toward safer, more sustainable food packaging solutions, driven by scalable monomaterial technologies that improve recyclability and reduce material complexity. Novel feedstocks, such as tomato peel-derived cutin coatings commercialized by Lamberti and validated by BIOCOPACPlus, are now used in paper packaging. In parallel, multifunctional antimicrobial coatings are gaining traction by incorporating GRAS components like chitosan and peptides into dissolvable PVA films to enhance food safety.

Bio-based coatings are picking up pace as the packaging sector confronts increasing regulatory demands from the EU and state regulations in the U.S. This has reached a turning point with the EU's new Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation of February 11, 2025, alongside other state-level PFAS bans such as California's AB 1200, effective from January 1, 2023, and Maine's PFAS ban from April 18, 2024.

One fine example countering these regulatory pressures is Aquapak's Hydropol PVOH, a bio-based polymer that showcases the possibility of green coating solutions. Hydropol™ provides grease and gas barriers better than traditional materials such as EVOH but has the additional advantages of being 100% repulpable in conventional pulping systems according to CEPI protocols and fully biodegradable in ocean environments.

Furthermore, standards like EN 13432 for industrial compostability and ASTM D6400 for municipal compostability offer open routes for suppliers to achieve EU and North American compostability requirements. Strategic partnerships among suppliers and packaging firms are also propelling the upscaling of bio-based coatings. For example, the joint effort of BASF and BillerudKorsnäs to create a home-compostable paper laminate made from BASF's ecovio® biopolymer and Epotal® Eco 3675 X adhesive in conjunction with BillerudKorsnäs' ConFlex® Silk paper has produced a flexible packaging material that is compostable, puncture-proof and machine-processable. Such alliances enable customized solutions that address converters' and brand owners' specific requirements while assuring that the performance of coatings is compatible with regulatory and consumer requirements for sustainability.

Even with these developments, however, there are still challenges, most notably around the performance-cost trade-off. Bio-based systems, as much as they provide tremendous environmental advantages, still have to be better in terms of moisture and oxygen barrier performance. The cost of raw materials for these bio-based coatings is also a concern for suppliers as they seek to close the price gap between these sustainable coatings and conventional PFAS or petrochemical-based coatings.

Circularity Enablers for the System

Material suppliers like BASF, UPM, Croda and NatureWorks are driving bio-coatings forward with renewable materials like lignocellulosic residues, algae and biopolymer blends. BASF and BillerudKorsnäs’ collaboration to bring a home-compostable flexible laminate shows how converters and material companies are collaborating to overcome technical barriers in performance and scalability. Standards like EN 13432 and ASTM D6400 are assisting in validating these efforts for consumers and regulators. Packaging companies such as Billerud, Mondi and Huhtamaki are creating functional formats of these materials that remain recyclable and compostable.

Nestlé has introduced sugar cane-based spoons and lids for its NAN, BEBA and GUIGOZ infant nutrition brands. The initiative aims to minimize fossil-based plastics use and meet Nestlé’s goal to be net-zero by 2050. The bio-based components are plant-based plastic packaging certified on a large scale for recyclability.

Danone has already transitioned about 5% of its yogurt packages in America and Germany from polystyrene to bio-based polylactic acid (PLA).

As EU PPWR regulations and U.S. PFAS prohibitions take effect, firms are seeking product solutions that are shelf-life bearing, printable and food safe, and additionally recyclable or compostable. Combined with the use of certified solutions, this creates mass market adoption and infrastructure compatibility.

Variation in coating performance is now better evaluated with tried and tested LCA tools. Confidence is provided by certifications like TÜV OK Compost, USDA BioPreferred and Cradle to Cradle. Digital product passports in development with GS1, Circularise and SAP are gaining ground on traceability. More attention has been given to ISO 14040-compliant LCA reporting between 2022 and 2025, with platforms such as Sphera and One Click LCA.

Shifting Gears: The Demand for Bio-Based Coatings and Regulation

Biosourced biodegradable coatings are advancing to pilot-scale production and exhibiting good environmental performance. Wider adoption will depend on functional parity with incumbent petrochemical counterparts. Provided that product developers can supply real drop-in equivalents capable of meeting incumbent processing, barrier and safety requirements, industry adoption will surge. Regulatory policies like the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), Single-Use Plastics Directive (SUP), Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and chemical restrictions imposed by ECHA are turning into main drivers for change. Tightening policy initiatives combined with mature trials in materials are set to drive the industry toward large-scale circular solutions, assuming performance and competitiveness are ensured.