Sustainable thermal packaging design using eco-friendly insulation alternatives to EPS

Overview

This offering addresses the need for sustainable thermal packaging solutions that can replace Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) in temperature-controlled shipping. EPS is widely used to maintain product temperatures during 24 to 48 hour shipments, but it is a petroleum-based, non-biodegradable material. Modality Solutions is developing thermal packaging designs using naturally occurring insulation materials such as cellulose, cotton, wool, hemp, and denim that can meet or exceed EPS thermal performance while being eco-friendly and biodegradable.

The solution targets shipments across multiple temperature ranges, including deep-frozen products at or below -50 °C, frozen products between -25 and -15 °C, refrigerated products between 2 and 8 °C, and controlled room temperature products between 15 and 25 °C. By combining expertise in thermal packaging design with sustainable materials, this approach supports companies seeking to reduce their environmental footprint without compromising cold chain performance.

Technical specifications

Key features:

• Insulation alternatives include wool, hemp, cellulose, cotton, and denim, all naturally occurring and biodegradable
• Designs are optimized for 48+ hour shipments under worst-case temperature conditions
• Thermal modeling incorporates shipper geometry, insulation thickness, product thermal mass, dry ice mass, and dry ice placement
• Design qualification testing performed in a controlled thermal chamber
• Thermal operational qualification (OQ) against worst-case thermal profiles
• Physical OQ testing under simulated worst-case transportation conditions

How it works:

EPS insulates effectively because it traps air within its cellular structure, limiting heat transfer through convection. Naturally occurring fibers such as wool, hemp, cellulose, cotton, and denim use the same principle, trapping air within their fibrous matrices to provide comparable or superior thermal resistance. Modality Solutions applies heat transfer modeling and iterative chamber testing to identify optimal insulation thickness, material selection, and shipper geometry for each temperature range and product type.

Technology readiness level

This technology is currently at an early-to-mid stage of development. A preliminary study has been completed in which six thermal packaging prototypes using hemp, cotton, wool, EPS, denim, and cellulose insulation were tested under identical ambient conditions. Results identified wool as the most effective insulation, with hemp, cellulose, and denim also showing promising thermal performance compared to EPS.

Next steps include developing a user requirements and specifications document, evaluating shipper designs through heat transfer modeling, conducting a design qualification study in the thermal chamber, performing a thermal operational qualification against worst-case profiles, and completing a physical operational qualification under simulated transportation conditions. These activities will produce a fully qualified sustainable shipping solution ready for commercial adoption.