Creating plastic-free packaging with liners or barriers that perform like their unrecyclable counterparts can be challenging. Just ask Starbucks, with its Odyssean quest to give consumers a genuinely recyclable to-go cup.

One Israeli firm, Melodea, offers plant-based, recyclable, biodegradable, and non-toxic alternatives to plastic-based air, moisture, and oil barrier coatings.

Melodea’s range of products includes MelOx, VBcoat, and VBseal, and they’re all made out of cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) derived from paper and wood pulp sidestreams. Instead of synthetic polymers, CNC-based materials get made from cellulose, a compound vital in the structure of the cell walls of plants. These barriers are incredibly necessary for food to stay fresh on the shelf, as they keep out unwanted oxygen, grease, and water.