At Clemson University’s 2025 FRESH Food, Packaging & Sustainability Summit today, a panel of industry experts discussed the use of fiber-based materials for CPG packaging versus alternative materials. The session, led by Brennan Lytle from Clemson University’s Packaging Dynamics Lab, aimed to unravel the complexities of sustainability, cost, and consumer perception in the realm of fiber-based packaging.
In his introduction, Lytle explained that the goal of the session was to frame the conversation around sustainability. “We know that it’s not just paper beats, plastic beats, biomaterial beats metal, whatever,” he said. “It’s not just a competition against one another. It’s really a synergy that exists there.”
Greg Johnson, a seasoned consultant, opened the discussion by highlighting the inherent advantages of fiber materials. He emphasized their renewability and recyclability, noting that paper fibers can be recycled up to seven times. However, he acknowledged the limitations, particularly when compared to plastics, which offer superior barrier properties crucial for certain applications.
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“Personally and professionally, I’ve always tried to be pretty much [materials] agnostic, although I’ve primarily worked in the fiber-based industry,” shared Johnson. “I spent a year with a plastics converter, and l learned there that although everything has some pluses and minuses, plastic does have some benefits that paper doesn’t have.
“I worked with an engineer there that said, when you’re taking a look at all these different materials, you have to look at the product itself. It’s kind of like footwear. If you’re going to go mountain climbing, obviously you’re not going to wear high heels or fancy shoes. If you’re going to run a marathon, you better have the right footwear, and that’s really what you have to do with packaging, especially when it comes to food and bev.”
On the fiber-based supplier side, James Davidson, chief commercial officer at Genera, noted that there is a lot of innovation happening now that’s expanding the world of what fiber packaging can do. Genera’s new $3 million facility in Tennessee is producing 2.5 billion molded fiber packages per year from Miscanthus grass. “And that’s allowing us to do things like create a meat tray that could replace a foam tray or produce or foodservice applications,” he explained.
To set the stage for the conversation around the sustainability of fiber-based packaging, Johnson shared a chart of the comparative environmental attributes of fiber, plastic, and bioplastic.
This approach not only supports rural economies but also offers a carbon-neutral solution. Davidson stressed the importance of understanding the specific needs of a package, suggesting that not all applications require the high barriers that plastics provide.
Taylor Billett, senior packaging engineer at whole-grain pancake and waffle mix company Kodiak, brought a brand perspective to the table. She recounted her experiences at Method Products, where sustainability was defined as creating less waste. At Kodiak, however, the definition was less clear, reflecting a broader industry challenge. Billett emphasized the importance of aligning packaging choices with consumer expectations, noting that Kodiak’s customers prefer paper, even if it means compromising on recyclability due to necessary coatings.
“We’ve done all the consumer research, at least from our end, and consumers really like paper,” she said. “And we’ve seen— sorry to all you plastics people out there— we’ve seen the turtle with the straw in its nose, and that has had a serious marketing impact. Kudos to the paper guys for putting that out there. But consumers like paper, and Kodiak likes brown paper. We don’t care that white paper is just as sustainable and recyclable as brown paper. We want it to be brown. So we have had to lean on guys like these to make sure that we can actually put a food product out there and keep it fresh on the shelf and make sure consumers can use it while at the same time kind of facing that push and pull of, well, this is now a coated paper and it’s not really recyclable anymore. How do we feel about that? And the answer is, we like paper.”
The conversation then turned to the challenges of implementing fiber-based solutions. Billett highlighted the difficulties faced by smaller brands in influencing contract manufacturers and navigating cost implications. She advocated for targeting low-hanging fruit—areas where current packaging already underperforms—as a strategy for introducing fiber alternatives.
Davidson and Johnson both underscored the need for large-scale investment to achieve cost parity with traditional materials. Davidson noted that Genera’s significant investment in production capacity was crucial for serving major brands and driving adoption.
“We’ve got a huge amount of machines all producing molded-fiber packaging, two and a half billion pieces per year. So the reason was, it goes back to a lot of the discussions we had around cost. We couldn’t have something that was a pure play sustainability that didn’t get to the right cost structure immediately. And at the same time, we needed to be able to serve big brands because we couldn’t really push that whole initiative around having these new innovative fiber technologies if we weren’t able to also supply the needs of a major brand participant. So getting to scale, I mean at some point there’s got to be some leaps of faith in terms of investment and willing to push for a really big deployment of a sustainable solution. And then of course there’s got to be willing brand owners that are willing to go for the ride and implement these things and go with all the challenges that are going to come up as you go to implement something new.”
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Audience questions revealed a shared concern about consumer confusion and the role of certifications. Johnson acknowledged the overwhelming number of labels and certifications, which can dilute their effectiveness. Simplifying these indicators, he suggested, could help consumers make more informed choices.
As the session concluded, it was clear that while fiber-based materials hold significant promise, their widespread adoption hinges on overcoming technical, economic, and perceptual barriers. The dialogue underscored the need for collaboration across the supply chain to develop solutions that are not only sustainable but also practical and economically viable. PW
