Green shipping package for temperature sensitive products

When shipping food and other temperature sensitive products from the life science, cosmetic and pharmaceutical sectors, often polystyrene is used for packaging or individual elements. A start-up from Munich is focussing on a sustainable alternative, which utilises recycled materials for cooling and protection.

Since 2014, easy2cool has been producing food packaging for cold shipping. The founders Marco Knobloch and Sebastian Leicht started out with a two-man business in a garage. Meanwhile, their company has grown to more than 60 employees and with paperloc is producing a holistic shipping system for passive, temperature guided logistics.

Their portfolio includes insulated bags and boxes, the easyAkkus cool packs, and for festivals during which drinks are supposed to keep cool even in summer without using electricity, there are the Festival Coolers. And the products have proven popular: In 2018, the company won the German Packaging Award and in 2021 was awarded by the federal ministry of economy and energy as the “ZIM Cooperation Project of the Year 2021”.

The heat insulating material was developed in cooperation with the Institute of Natural Materials Technology at the Technical University of Dresden. The goal was to find an alternative to common polystyrene foam. The result was an eco-friendly insulating shipping package made from cellulose fibres – paperfloc. Cellulose fibres are especially suitable, as in comparison to other biological insulating material, they have a very low conductivity for heat.

Recently, in 2022, easy2cool have introduced their eco-friendly paperfloc eco products: the paperfloc eco system and the paperfloc eco pouch system. These carbon neutral insulating packages are made of recycled waste paper and are characterised by a high level of insulation and shock absorption. The outer shell of this packaging consists of a barrier paper and the systems are not hazardous to food.

The solutions by easy2cool differ a lot when it comes to the outer shell. While the eco systems use barrier paper, the original paperfloc systems use an outer shell made of mono-polyethylene. Both systems, therefore, are made of 100 percent recyclable material. The paperfloc eco systems can be disposed of along with waste paper.

A lasting and sustainable cooling effect is achieved by the reusable easyAkkus cool packs which are available in different designs. A special cooling gel gives them good cooling properties. Sustainable materials were equally important to the company for their cool packs. Their outer layer is made from a 100 percent recyclable material and is certified for contact with food. In order to not damage the products being cooled, the corners of the cooling elements are rounded.

The founders first had the idea for their passive cooling systems at a hot festival during summer. And their cooling solution was developed exactly for events like that. The Festival Coolers use the easyAkkus cool packs to keep food and drinks cold without electricity for 100 hours or 4 days.

Depending on wishes by the customer, special sizes are possible for boxes and cooling elements. Individual adaptations to the layout are made possible through digital printing.