EPS adds compliance cost. Molded pulp cuts it.

Your next CPCB filing is coming. So is your next damaged-unit claim. Both are tied to the same decision: what sits inside that corrugated outer box.

EPS foam and plastic trays are not just an environmental concern anymore. In India, Singapore, and Malaysia, packaging regulations are tightening, and the cost of non-compliance is rising. The brands that act now will avoid the ones that catch up later.

One material, two liabilities: waste and compliance

Think about how most electronics ship today:

EPS foam inside a corrugated outer box
Vacuum-formed plastic trays holding the product in place
Generic corrugated with void fill or bubble wrap

EPS does its job as a cushioning material. It is lightweight and low cost and can be tooled into custom shapes and sizes. That is exactly why it became the default across electronics packaging for decades.

The problem is not what EPS does inside the box. It is what happens after. EPS is difficult to collect and recycle at scale in many markets. It fragments into microplastics and clogs waste streams. Plastic trays carry the same end-of-life problem. Both now attract growing regulatory and compliance attention for your brand.

If you want the full regulatory picture for your market, we have covered it here.

Electronics is already leading the shift

This is not a trend waiting to happen. It is already happening.

IT hardware brands, office automation OEMs, and contract manufacturers across Asia are actively moving away from EPS and plastic trays. The pressure is coming from two directions: their own sustainability targets and the expectations of the enterprise clients they supply.

Electronics packaging is expected to account for 38% of total global molded pulp demand in 2026, making it the fastest-growing end-use segment in the entire category.

India alone is projected to grow its molded pulp packaging market from $291 million in 2025 to $721 million by 2035 at 9.5% CAGR, one of the fastest growth rates in Asia.

If your enterprise customers have sustainability scorecards, your packaging is already on them.

Why EPS falls short where it matters most

EPS is a good cushioning material. Lightweight, low cost, and with the right tooling, it fits almost any product geometry. That is not the argument against it.

The argument is what comes after. EPS is petroleum-based and difficult to recycle at scale. It does not biodegrade. It fragments into microplastics. Most waste systems in India, Singapore, and Malaysia cannot process it, so it ends up in landfills or the environment. That is exactly what regulators in all three markets are now legislating against.

Under India’s EPR rules, EPS is a declared plastic type. Your brand must account for every gram, hit recycling targets, or buy compliance credits. The better EPS performs as a cushion, the more you use, and the larger your compliance exposure grows. Singapore and Malaysia carry the similar material-specific logic.

Molded pulp matches EPS on protection and can be custom-tooled to the same product geometries. But it is fiber-based, biodegradable, and sits entirely outside the CPCB common EPR portal, which is a tracking system dedicated strictly to various categories created by the government. That is the difference that matters now

What about humidity? (The honest answer)

This is the real question for electronics brands shipping across Southeast Asia and coastal Indian cities.

Uncoated molded pulp absorbs moisture. That is the limitation. But the engineering answer has been standard practice for years: a hybrid design.

Corrugated outer box handles structural load and acts as a moisture buffer
Custom molded pulp inner tray handles product-specific cushioning

Both layers are fiber-based. Both are biodegradable at the curb. No foam, no plastic inserts. For higher-moisture routes, bio-based barrier coatings can be applied to the pulp during molding without affecting biodegradability.

Further reading: Paper Pulp -Moulding: How Sustainable Practices Are Shaping the Future of Packaging

What the 2026 regulations actually mean

This is where material choice becomes a business decision, not just an environmental one.

In India, April 2026 marks full EPR implementation across all packaging categories. Every brand using plastic packaging, including EPS foam and vacuum-formed trays, must declare volumes, hit recycling targets, or buy compliance credits. Single-use plastic inserts, the kind inside most electronics boxes, fall directly under the phase-out schedule.

In Singapore and Malaysia, EPR frameworks for producers are live and expanding. Enterprise clients in these markets are now running packaging audits as part of vendor qualification. Plastic that cannot prove end-of-life recyclability is a flag.

Molded pulp sits outside all of this. It is fiber-based. It does not enter the plastic declaration system. Every EPS or plastic tray you replace removes that volume from your compliance exposure.

For the full breakdown across all three markets, read our packaging regulations guide.

What a transition actually looks like

Molded paper pulp has come a long way. The hesitation brands used to have around tooling costs and lead times is largely gone.

MPP tooling costs are lower than EPS tooling. Lead times are on par or better. And the pre-production preparation cost is lower than switching to corrugated inserts. Taken together, MPP is now the most commercially attractive biodegradable packaging option on the market.

We worked with a US-based IT multinational that was using styrofoam across its full SKU range.

The problem: shipping restrictions were blocking them from markets with strict sustainability rules. The foam was costing them sales, not protecting them.

Here is what we did:

CAD simulation to model the transition to molded paper pulp before a single prototype was made
Custom cavity design for each SKU, engineered to the product geometry
Outer box dimensions kept identical, so container utilisation and logistics footprint stayed the same
15% direct material cost increase prevented through design optimisation

Development took 8 weeks. Tooling took 4 weeks.

The brand replaced its entire packaging range. No foam. No plastic trays. Same level of protection, validated against transit standards.

Read the full story: How we moved an IT multinational to 100% sustainable packaging.

Ready to make the switch?

If you are still using EPS or plastic trays for your SKUs, the EPR obligation and transit damage exposure are already measurable. A strategic packaging risk and compliance audit tells you exactly where you stand, what it is costing you, and what a transition to molded pulp looks like for your specific SKUs.

Request a Strategic Packaging Risk and Compliance Audit for your top 3 SKUs.

Visit hilepack.com/contact.