Scientists from Germany’s Göttingen University are turning an inedible byproduct from the manufacture of cornflakes into biodegradable packaging material.

In response to the global plastic waste crisis affecting the world’s landfills and oceans, the team of German scientists set out to find an alternative to the Styrofoam packaging material often used to secure packaged goods. Those so-called packaging peanuts are composed of polystyrene derived from petroleum and they break down into harmful micro-plastics, thereby contributing to the global plastic waste crisis.

Source: University of Göttingen

As such, the Göttingen University researchers filled corn waste byproduct with steam to produce granulated “popcorn” that could be molded into 3D pieces of various shapes and sizes for environmentally friendly and biodegradable packaging material.

The cereal-derived packaging material, which also exhibits water repellent properties, is being commercially developed via an agreement with Nordgetreide, a European cereal maker.