TAGS: Sustainability / Natural Coatings
The bioeconomy startup traceless develops a nature-based, sustainable alternative to plastic. The compostable biomaterial traceless® is based on plant residues of industrial grain processing. To implement innovative technology for the first time on an industrial scale, the company is planning to build a demonstration plant in Hamburg.
The aim is to substitute several thousand metric tons of conventional plastic each year, thus saving a considerable amount of CO2 emissions, fossil resources, water and agricultural land.
Alternative to Plastics
Plastics are at the center of ecological challenges. Not only do they leave behind the visible traces of global plastic pollution, their costly production from fossil resources also contributes significantly to the climate crisis.
As part of a circular, sustainable economy, the bioeconomy offers a solution, instead of fossil resources, renewable raw materials are used and processed into biobased products using environmentally friendly processes.
The startup traceless® materials GmbH has developed a novel bioeconomy technology. Based on plant leftovers from industrial grain processing, they produce a natural biomaterial as an alternative to plastic. The traceless® material is completely bio-based, home-compostable and plastic-free. By using plant leftovers, valuable biomass resources are preserved.
The project is being funded with around 5 million Euros from the Environmental Innovation Program (Umweltinnovationsprogramm) of the German Federal Environment Ministry (BMUV). Parliamentary State Secretary Dr. Bettina acknowledged the great potential of the project, and the outstanding benefit for the environment and for Germany as an industrial location in her statement.
Suitable for Paper Coatings
The patent-pending technology is based on natural polymers, comes without potentially harmful substances and has a minimal environmental footprint. Compared to plastic, 91% of CO
2 emissions and 89% of fossil energy demand is saved during production and disposal.
The company produces traceless® materials in the form of a granulate that can be further processed using standard technologies in the plastics and packaging industry. Thus, the material can be used in a wide range of end products, from rigid molded parts and flexible films to paper coatings or adhesives.
The company has already implemented the technology on a pilot scale. With the aim of replacing plastics in large quantities soon, production capacities will be expanded to industrial scale. The planned plant will demonstrate for the first time that the innovative process can be implemented on an industrial scale.
Source: TRACELESS MATERIALS GMBH