Vegeplast, a French company, had its first US patent publication publish this past week. The patent publication is directed towards biodegradable packaging used for packing, storing, or also transporting foodstuffs, such as fruits, vegetables, meats and/or plants, and/or for making capsules, such as coffee capsules. The invention includes a single biodegradable film arranged on a substrate in such a way to fit the inner face and to fill the openings in a simple and easy-to-implement manner.  Allegedly, the biodegradable film does not form waves during removal of packaging from the mold. This is an improvement because typically a biodegradable film positioned during an injection step, which does not deform (no shrinkage), will necessarily form waves during removal of the packaging from the mold, due to the shrinkage of the plastic material. 

This patent application appears similar to VEGEMAT®, Vegeplast's main product. VEGEMAT® is a 100% biobased compound that is created by transforming cereal plants. The product is 100% biodegradable, compostable, and is compliant with European standard EN13432, which means it will degrade in 6 to 9 weeks in industrial compost.  Vegeplast's patent publication continues a trend of foreign companies creating IP in the US. Find out more information regarding the previous companies and other trends in the Biodegradable Packaging Sector here.