Z1RO bets on fallen leaves and hemp waste for premium moulded fibre packaging

A new startup from a Releaf Paper co-founder wants to replace wood pulp in moulded fibre packaging with non-wood biomass, just as the EU’s packaging rules start to apply.

Most moulded fibre packaging, the stiff pulp inserts inside a phone box or a perfume carton, starts as wood. Z1RO, a young materials startup that presents itself as France-based, wants it to start as fallen leaves, hemp hurds, European bamboo and agricultural residues instead.

Alexander Sobolenko, co-founder and former CEO of Releaf Paper, founded the company; Releaf is known for paper made from fallen leaves. Releaf worked on paper and carrier bags. Z1RO takes the same raw-material idea into moulded fibre.

How the material is supposed to work

Z1RO says its process keeps part of the lignin that occurs naturally in plant fibres. Lignin works as a binder, so the company argues the material needs less processing and fewer chemicals than conventional pulp, and can run on existing moulded fibre lines. It bases the expected energy and chemical savings on preliminary technical and economic assessments.

The regulation behind the pitch

The EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) entered into force in February 2025 and has applied generally since 12 August 2026. Its goal is that all packaging on the EU market is recyclable by 2030, and it adds rules on materials, reuse and waste. Nothing in it tells brands to drop wood pulp. Z1RO is betting that companies reworking their packaging will also go looking for other raw materials.

Who it is aiming at

The company is not going after egg-carton prices. Its first targets are packaging where look and feel matter: cosmetics and beauty, consumer electronics, wines and spirits, luxury and gifting, and premium consumer goods. Natural fibres give the surface a visible texture, which Z1RO sees as a selling point in those segments.

“We aim to build a scalable business around non-wood biomass,” Sobolenko says.

What exists so far

In June, Z1RO was one of eight Ukrainian startups presented at VivaTech 2026 in Paris, and one of three that pitched on stage. Packaging Europe shortlisted it in the Start-Up, New Materials category of its Sustainability Awards, and the company says Hello Tomorrow named it a Deep Tech Pioneer.

Z1RO says it has three B2B pilot projects under way in the EU and is working with European R&D and manufacturing partners ahead of its first commercial deployments. It is raising €500,000 to fund industrial scale-up and market entry.

This article was drafted with AI assistance from Z1RO’s press release and public sources, then edited by the startupreporter.eu team.