Abstract: An improved method for production of a biodegradable packaging material which entails dissolving gellable polysaccharides in water, molding the solution into any desired shape or form, and then vacuum-dehydrating the molded solution to produce the desired product. This improved method reduces the number of steps required to produce the biodegradable packaging material, and therefore provides for a product which is less expensive to produce and possibly more competitive with non-biodegradable packaging materials currently found in today's marketplace.