Zerocircle has introduced a heat-sealable hydrophobic coating for paper cups that is designed to provide water and grease resistance without conventional polyethylene lining or PFAS treatment.

Made from seaweed and other plant-derived materials, the natural-polymer coating targets one of the longstanding challenges surrounding paper beverage cups: providing the barrier and sealing performance required for hot drinks while keeping the finished structure compatible with paper recycling.

The company is preparing commercial samples and expects to target deployment by the end of 2026, with pilots involving quick-service restaurant chains, catering companies and packaging distributors in Europe.

Coating Targets PE Linings in Conventional Paper Cups

Although conventional takeaway cups are predominantly made from paperboard, many use a thin polyethylene layer to prevent liquid from penetrating the fibre structure.

That layer provides important functional performance but creates a composite paper-plastic structure.

Zerocircle is seeking to replace this construction with a coating derived from natural polymers.

According to the company, its coating provides both hydrophobic and grease-resistant properties and is designed to be repulped through standard paper recycling streams without requiring separate collection.

The company also says the material does not rely on PFAS treatments to provide the required barrier performance.

This combination is particularly relevant for foodservice packaging, where barrier properties cannot simply be removed when manufacturers move toward fibre-based structures.

Heat Sealability Could Be Important for Cup Converters

Barrier performance is only one requirement for a commercially viable paper cup coating.

The coated board must also be converted into cups efficiently.

Zerocircle says its material is heat sealable, allowing cup manufacturers to form and seam-seal cups on existing converting equipment without adding adhesive.

This could be significant for commercial adoption.

New packaging materials can provide strong environmental characteristics but still face difficulties if converters need to replace machinery or substantially modify existing production processes.

Compatibility with installed equipment can lower one of those barriers.

The company says its coating is intended to integrate into existing paper converting and waste-management systems rather than requiring a separate manufacturing or recycling infrastructure.

Tests Include Hot Coffee and Boiling Water

Hot beverage applications place considerable demands on coated paper.

The material must maintain its barrier properties when exposed to hot liquids while the cup is filled, handled and consumed.

According to Zerocircle, the technology has been tested using boiling water and hot coffee, with the coating maintaining its functional performance at temperatures of up to 90°C.

The company is initially targeting applications where this combination of heat resistance, liquid barrier performance and heat sealability is required.

Food-contact safety is another important requirement.

Zerocircle says its materials are certified for food-contact applications and comply with REACH requirements.

The company also states that the coating complies with requirements associated with the EU Single-Use Plastics Directive and Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation.

Seaweed Emerges as a Packaging Feedstock

The development also illustrates growing commercial interest in seaweed-derived materials for packaging.

Seaweed has been investigated for films, coatings and other packaging applications because naturally occurring polymers can provide useful functional characteristics.

For Zerocircle, the objective is not to replace the paper substrate itself but to modify the functional layer applied to it.

This approach could be important because coatings represent one of the main technical challenges facing efforts to develop more recyclable paper-based packaging.

Paper alone does not necessarily provide the moisture, grease, oxygen or heat-sealing properties required for many food applications.

As a result, the development of functional coatings increasingly determines where fibre-based packaging can realistically replace structures containing conventional plastics.

Repulpability Will Be Central to Commercial Adoption

For paper recycling, the performance of the complete cup structure is important.

A coating may represent only a small percentage of the total package by weight, but its behaviour during repulping can influence fibre recovery and recycling operations.

Zerocircle says its proprietary coating is designed to enter existing paper recycling streams without requiring segregation.

If this performance translates successfully into commercial applications, it could provide cup producers with another route toward reducing conventional plastic layers while retaining essential barrier properties.

Independent recyclability assessments and large-scale converting experience will consequently be important as the technology progresses from samples and pilots toward wider deployment.

Commercial Deployment Targeted for Late 2026

Zerocircle is now preparing commercial samples for existing and prospective customers.

The company is working with QSR operators, catering businesses and packaging distributors across Europe to pilot the coating and is targeting deployment by the end of 2026.

The development arrives as several packaging companies pursue alternative paper cup constructions.

Approaches range from alternative barrier coatings and mineral-based systems to new fibre structures designed to improve recyclability or compostability.

The commercial challenge is similar across these technologies: a replacement for PE-lined cups needs to balance liquid resistance, heat sealing, food-contact requirements, converting speed, recyclability and cost.

Zerocircle’s seaweed and plant-based coating adds another potential material route to that transition.

If commercial trials confirm the reported performance on existing cup-forming equipment and in paper recycling systems, the technology could provide converters with a new option for producing paper cups without conventional polyethylene lamination.

Last Updated on 19/08/2026 by Jota Machinery