TotalEnergies Corbion has launched Luminy Foam 50F, a high melt strength polylactic acid (PLA) material for foamed food packaging, positioned as a drop-in replacement for extruded polystyrene (XPS).
The material targets trays for fresh fish and meat, as well as foodservice formats including clamshells and bowls. It is designed to run on existing XPS extrusion lines with minimal modification and without requiring additives, chain extenders or reactive processing.
Luminy Foam 50F is made from sugarcane-based PLA and delivers at least a 70% reduction in carbon footprint compared to XPS foam parts, according to the company. It is also industrially compostable, recyclable and PFAS-free.
“With polystyrene bans accelerating, this is one of the first solutions positioned as an industrial-scale replacement, not a niche material,” said Laurent Daligault, global packaging segment leader at TotalEnergies Corbion. He described it as enabling converters and brand owners to adopt a functional drop-in alternative to XPS in terms of both processing and product performance.
The material’s high melt strength supports stable foam production with uniform cell morphology, which the company says is important for demanding applications such as fresh protein packaging.
Luminy Foam 50F is approved for food contact by the US Food and Drug Administration and in South Korea. In other markets it is available for non-food applications. The material is now available for commercial orders globally.
TotalEnergies Corbion says the launch reflects its focus on creating high-performance materials with a lower environmental impact as regulatory pressure on conventional plastics intensifies.
