Ensuring the thermal integrity of perishable goods during transport is vital for food supply chains, as it impacts food security, public health, and waste reduction. Expanded polystyrene (EPS) currently dominates cold chain packaging for its affordability and basic insulation properties, yet it has considerable drawbacks, such as contributing up to 80% of marine litter, occupying large landfill volumes, and adding to microplastics due to its non-biodegradable, single-use, and fossil fuel-based nature.
EPS’s insulating capacity rarely maintains the required 2–8 °C temperature range for more than 24–36 hours under variable ambient conditions. Conventional mitigation, ice packs, dry ice, and rapid shipping create operational complexity, energy demand, and risk of cold chain failure. While incremental attempts to improve EPS using coatings or composites defer rather than solve fundamental environmental and technical problems, the cold chain’s carbon footprint, already significant, continues to rise, challenging net-zero ambitions. Global bans and regulatory action are starting to drive replacement with more sustainable materials.
There is an urgent need for passive cold storage packaging solutions that do not rely on energy-intensive, active cooling strategies. Innovations focused on insulation and thermal management materials, design for recyclability or biodegradability, and the reduction of resource consumption throughout the cold chain are especially important for real-world impact.
This Special Issue invites contributions addressing the technical, environmental, and system-level aspects of developing and implementing passive energy storage techniques in cold chain packaging solutions. The focus is on alternatives to EPS and other single-use plastics that reduce reliance on powered refrigeration, aligning with the goals of sustainable materials, process efficiency, and net-zero cold chain operations.
| Period | 3 Nov 2025 → 31 Aug 2026 |
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| Type of journal | Journal |
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| ISSN | 2071-1050 |
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- passive thermal packaging
- EPS alternatives
- cold chain sustainability
- phase change materials
- circular economy
- biodegradable materials
- sustainable logistics
- renewable-based insulation
- passive thermal packaging of battery packs