During the time that has passed since the discovery of plastics, man has come up with so many uses for them, including in packaging, that it seems it will never be possible to replace them everywhere. However, it turns out that if the same person is placed within a strict framework of conditions, then his ingenuity and imagination are capable of much.

Further proof of this is the rather unexpected development of Dr. Ryan Robinson, founder of Aeropowder. He wondered about the natural insulating properties of feathers and how they could be applied to packaging. And it turned out that it is very possible! Dr. Robinson's development is called PluumoPlus. This is a thermal insulation material that matches the characteristics of widespread polystyrene foam, but is created entirely from natural material.

It is based on the most common feathers, which are most often waste from other industries. These feathers are pre-treated to ensure hygiene and then made into a continuous textile fabric. After cutting to the appropriate dimensions, the sheets are wrapped in starch-based film and the actual PluumoPlus thermal insulation inserts are obtained.

The development is intended primarily for the medical and biological industries, but can be used in almost any cold chain.

Aeropowder's future plans include the development of acoustic panels and other building insulation materials.

Materials from the sites pluumoplus.com, aeropowder.com, packagingeurope.com were used.