The University of Northern British Columbia has named a new lab it hopes will revolutionize how seafood is packed and stored.
The Seawise Biopolymer Processing Lab at UNBC is dedicated to biopolymer formulation and advanced packaging technology development. The goal is to eventually commercialize new, sustainable products.
The lab is focused on using biopolymers to advance clean technologies and, one day, replace Styrofoam packaging with materials that offer the same thermal insulation and convenience — without the environmental harm.
Currently, the lab is able to convert plant-based and waste materials from other industries — such as starch — into new packaging solutions. Researchers are exploring how this can be scaled up for commercial use.
One of the lab’s flagship products is a recyclable version of Styrofoam made from biodegradable polyethylene. If successful, the innovation could benefit industries that rely heavily on cold-chain logistics, such as seafood, meal kits and pharmaceuticals.
Lead researcher Hossein Kazemian told The Citizen that the journey started with a simple idea.
“We started from nothing four and a half years ago with just an idea that the company brought to us,” said Kazemian. “We succeeded in commercializing one of the products and we established a capacity that’s unique to our region — a biopolymer facility.
“The sky’s the limit when it comes to working in that area of biopolymer, and we know the future of our planet depends on those types of projects. Given all those things, we are trying to eventually replace Styrofoam and all those non-compostable, polymer- or oil-based plastics with compostable, biodegradable biopolymers that are really going to impact our environment.”
The lab houses state-of-the-art equipment, including a new extruder and related equipment donated by Brown’s Bay Packing Company. Valued at $350,000, the donation helped spur the naming and formation of the new lab.
Installed in May 2022, the extruder has already contributed to the development of Thermoloc — a recyclable packaging product made with 30 per cent post-consumer recycled content. The product is currently seeking funding and has been shown to increase shelf life by up to 70 per cent, outperforming traditional Styrofoam.
The lab has also received funding from the provincial government, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Alliance program, and the Mitacs Accelerate program.
Combined with other recent awards — including the Innovate BC Ignite Award — total funding now amounts to $1.2 million.
Kazemian said the support is deeply meaningful to him and his team.
“It means a lot as a researcher, because at the end of the day, as an educator and a researcher, you want to see the impact of what you do,” he said. “That’s actually the reward we expect — to see that what we do is going to really make a change.
“To be honest, doing those things at a university like UNBC is more challenging than other places. The reason is that we are a small-sized university. Given all those factors, this success is huge for us and our community. We know industry is going to look at us differently because they see we can deliver.”
Commercialization is already in motion. The lab is currently pilot testing biodegradable packaging straps in Alberta, and some of its eco-friendly products — such as Thermoloc — have been showcased at major trade events.
“We had a continental approach to go into the market,” said Brown’s Bay Packing CEO Jesse Knight. “We can manufacture Thermoloc in Los Angeles, Toronto, New York State and Atlanta in the next couple of months, then obviously in the Lower Mainland and on Vancouver Island.
“We’re ready. We were just at the Boston Seafood Show showing our products. Everybody wants to move away from Styrofoam. There’s just so much pressure, and it’s so difficult to remove Styrofoam. But the response has been great, and we’re now entering several markets—including the big four seafood quarters.”
Knight, who has been involved since the beginning, said the journey has been a challenging but rewarding one.
“Startups are not easy,” he said. “My beard is much more grey than it was five years ago. So it’s a tremendous accomplishment for everybody. It’s pretty exciting — we’ve gotten here and we think we have a solid plan to achieve our goals.”
The lab is currently supporting two graduate students and two postdoctoral researchers as part of its effort to prove the viability of its packaging innovations.
