It looks and feels the same as polystyrene, but it could revolutionise the way products are shipped around the world.
The product, called ZealaFoam, is the result of a collaboration between Rotorua-based company Biopolymer Network and Crown research organisations Scion, AgResearch and Plant and Food Research.
After almost a decade of work Rotorua-based Biopolymer Network chief executive Sarah Heine said the product was just about ready for commercial production.
Ms Heine said all plastics in New Zealand were made from imported polymers made with petrochemicals that came in the form of small beads which were then heated and moulded locally into whatever shape they were being used for.
But, the bio-based plastic used in ZealaFoam is derived from corn starch. The key to the product is the introduction of CO2 as a "blowing agent" which expands the small beads so they can be moulded into different shapes.