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The design of bioplastic packaging needs to move away from "plain and simple" to rival the design of conventional plastic packaging, according to Innovia Films.

Andy Sweetman, the materials supplier’s market development manager for sustainable technologies, said improved technical specifications were enabling bioplastics to move out of the organic food sector to a wider pool of applications.

Sweetman, speaking yesterday (21 November) at the European Bioplastics conference in Paris, said: “There’s not been a big degree of packaging design in bioplastics.”

His views were echoed by Dr Rainer Hagen of engineering firm Uhde Inventa-Fischer, who said the physical properties of polylactic acid (PLA) had limited its use to “niche markets”.

However, developments in coatings and compounds with other polymers were improving the material’s usability, he added.

Jon Bond, packaging product manager at consultancy firm Adare Packaging Solutions, said clear disposal instructions were required for bioplastics.

Labelling should “avoid jargon and implied green credentials”, he said, while he urged the industry not to “underestimate shoppers’ intelligence”.

Bond, who advises Waitrose on its packaging, also said that bio-materials needed to “make the product better” to encourage adoption by retailers.

“If they pay more, they want to see something different,” he said.