The Brief: a closer look at dissolvable packaging

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Introduction
This report looks at the rise of dissolvable packaging, where materials – often made from PVA or other biodegradable polymers – dissolve in water with little or no residue. It outlines where the technology is being used now, the benefits and challenges it faces, and where it might go next.

Key Takeaways

• The global water-soluble packaging market is projected to grow from USD 3.38 billion in 2024 to USD 5.99 billion by 2034, driven by demand for sustainable packaging, tighter regulations, and environmental awareness.
• Current applications span detergents, agriculture, food, textiles, personal care, retail, and medical sectors, with products ranging from laundry pods to edible food wraps and dissolvable garment bags.
• Benefits include reduced plastic waste, convenience for consumers, and lower resource and carbon requirements compared to conventional plastics.
• Challenges include poor performance in high humidity or wet conditions, high production costs, need for specialized manufacturing equipment, and limited suitability for products requiring long-term durability.
• Companies such as Bioplastics International, Solupak, Daye, Conserving Beauty, DisSolves, Hero Packaging, and Invisible Company are leading innovations with solutions targeting both consumer and industrial uses.
• Many products claim marine safety, non-toxicity, and the ability to biodegrade quickly without creating microplastics, though scalability and cost remain barriers.

Conclusion
Dissolvable packaging is growing quickly and attracting interest across industries, but its uptake is still limited by cost, performance constraints, and manufacturing requirements. If innovations can address these issues, the technology could expand into more mainstream packaging uses and replace a wider range of single-use plastics. For now, it remains a promising but still developing alternative in the push toward more sustainable packaging solutions.

In recent years, dissolvable packaging has been emerging across multiple industries including food, retail and personal care. In this edition of The Brief, we take a closer look at its current uses, some of the benefits and challenges involved and consider its potential future applications.

This month, business consulting company Towards Packaging released its report on the expansion of the water-soluble packaging market, with the main findings summarized in a LinkedIn post. The post defined water-soluble packaging as “materials - often based on Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) or other biodegradable polymers - that dissolve in water, leaving behind minimal to no residue”.

The company highlighted some of the key sectors adopting this technology, including detergents and household cleaners, with applications such as single-use pods that dissolve during use; agriculture with the adoption of controlled-release fertilizers in PVA films, aiming to eliminate waste and enhance soil integration; the food industry, through heat-dissolvable wrappers designed to reduce packaging layers and landfill burden; and textiles and dyeing, hoping to eliminate chemical waste and enhance operational precision in dyeing processes.

When it comes to market projection, Towards Packaging reports the following:

“Market projections show that this sector is on a robust growth path from USD 3.38 billion in 2024 to USD 5.99 billion by 2034, marking a CAGR of 5.9%. This growth is powered by increasing demand for sustainable packaging, stringent regulations, and heightened environmental awareness.”

The business added that North America appears to be leading the charge, accounting for 31.42% of the market, driven by strong regulatory frameworks and consumer demand for ‘green alternatives’.

Challenges and applications of water-soluble packaging

In 2024, regulatory compliance and risk management company SGS Digicomply released a guide to water-soluble packaging including its benefits, challenges and applications. The main benefits outlined by the guide include its potential to reduce plastic waste; convenience, particularly for food products that can be prepared without needing to remove the packaging; and the production process, which reportedly requires fewer resources and emits less carbon than conventional plastic manufacturing.

SGS also highlighted the challenges, such as not being suitable for packaging exposed to high humidity or wet environments and requiring special considerations when used for products that need to be stored or transported in damp conditions.

The costs associated with PVA production and specialized equipment to manufacture water-soluble films can make it less accessible for smaller food companies. The guide added that it has limited applications, as products that require long-term durability or that are exposed to high moisture levels may not benefit from this solution.

The applications mentioned in the guide include pre-portioned food items such as powdered ingredients, instant coffee, tea, biodegradable alternatives to plastic trays or containers for ready-to-eat meals and instant food and beverage mixes.

What about the current applications for dissolvable packaging?

Dissolvable packaging is currently being applied in various industries including medical, retail, personal care and food. Bioplastics International claims to offer the world’s ‘first and only’ water-soluble polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) made from sugar cane, which can be used in packaging such as cling films, agriculture mulch films, laundry pods and meat trays.

Solupak makes water-soluble sachets, films and pods for applications in industries including retail, construction and medical. The company also has its own brand of water-soluble cleaning products – soluCLEAN - for laundry detergent, cleaners and sanitiser.

In the personal care sector, gynaecological health company Daye uses water-soluble packaging for its tampon wrappers and applicators. In January, we reported that Australian beauty brand Conserving Beauty would be utilizing Futamura’s renewable and compostable NatureFlex films in the sachet packaging for its dissolvable cleansing wipes.

The brand uses its patented InstaMelt material in its skincare solutions. Conserving Beauty states its fabric is made from a water-soluble polymer which is then treated with its anhydrous formulations, to create skincare solutions that dissolve instantly in water after use. The company claims the material can also biodegrade in 14 days.

Within the food and agriculture space, edible dissolvable packaging company DisSolves is seeking to deliver a plastic-free alternative that replaces petroleum-based materials like PVOH/PVA, and is currently enrolling early adopters in the food & beverage, cleaning, and personal care industries. DisSolves is a portfolio company of the Generation Food Rural Partners (GFRP) venture fund focused on university-developed intellectual property in food, protein, and agriculture technologies.

In the retail and e-commerce space Hero Packaging offers the AQUAHERO water soluble garment bag which dissolves in boiling water. The bag is designed to replace single-use plastic garment bags to protect clothing and soft homewear within a mailer bag or box. According to the company, the bag dissolves with no toxic leftovers, the PVOH material used is marine-safe and the ink is non-toxic and water-based.

Invisible Company’s Invisible Bag can be used as a mailer bag, garment bag or even as a dog poo bag. The solution is apparently water-soluble, compostable, biodegradable, proven to be non-toxic and leaves no harmful residue. The bag is designed to provide an alternative for manufacturers and brands to replace conventional plastic packaging.

Invisible Company says the bag dissolves in hot water at 80℃ or above. After dissolution, the remaining liquid can be poured down the drain where it will be treated at a sewage plant. It adds that when the dissolved Invisible Bag arrives at the sewage treatment plant, it will be consumed by microorganisms and break down into carbon dioxide and water with no formation of microplastics.

The future of dissolvable packaging

With developments across multiple sectors such as personal care with Daye’s tampon applicators and wrappers, Solupak’s solutions including the medical and construction sectors and retail applications such as Hero Packaging and Invisible Company’s water-soluble bags, it seems like the dissolvable packaging space is one to watch.

There’s sure to be some interesting innovations in this area in future – but whether this packaging retains its current applications or gradually develops into something more widespread remains to be seen.

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