Our Innovation Analysts recently looked into emerging technologies and up-and-coming startups in the packaging industry. As there is a large number of startups working on a wide variety of solutions, we decided to share our insights with you. This time, we are taking a look at 5 promising biodegradable material solutions.
Heat Map: Top 5 Biodegradable Material Startups
For our 5 picks of biodegradable material startups, we used a data-driven startup scouting approach to identify the most relevant solutions globally. The Global Startup Heat Map below highlights 5 interesting examples out of 700 relevant solutions. Depending on your specific needs, your top picks might look entirely different.
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Sulapac – Wooden-Based Materials
Manufacturers present marine biodegradable straws and packaging made from renewable raw materials such as wood and natural binders. Sulapac is a Finish startup that produces fully biodegradable packaging material made out of wood. It can be manufactured, mass-produced and molded like plastic. Its water, oil, and oxygen resistance are the same as plastic. The company also produces microplastic-free, marine degradable straws.
Eggplant – Polyhydroxybutyrate Bioplastics (PHB)
In addition to its complete biodegradability, Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) is formed from renewable resources. It possesses better physical properties than polypropylene and is completely non-toxic which makes it a suitable alternative for food packaging. Italian startup EggPlant provides advanced bioplastic-based solutions with a technology to reuse wastewater to get high-performance bioplastics through a zero waste process. EggPlant has developed a PHB bioplastic, which is a completely bio-derived and biodegradable plastic suitable for various applications and industries (electronics, cosmetics, bio-med, aerospace, consumer, agriculture, packaging, etc).
Pond – Bioresin & Natural Fibers
Bioresin systems are based on starch and designed to replace traditional oil-based resins and plastics. When combining bio-resins with natural fibers, the final product becomes 100% biodegradable when exposed to certain bacteria strains found in nature. The technical specifications vary depending on which natural fibers were chosen (flax, pineapple, palm leaves, and others). Pond is a startup from Denmark which produces bio-resin systems that are 100% biobased and fully degradable in nature. They are suitable to bind natural fibers such as flax, hemp, pineapple, palm leaves, cotton, banana, and jute resulting in creating fully biodegradable products.
Ecoshell – Plant-Based Materials
Bioplastics made from renewable biomass are biodegradable and generate an environmental benefit, providing resources for microorganisms that will reintegrate packaging into natural elements. Mexican startup Ecoshell develops a technology to manufacture disposable products and films made from renewable resources — plants that biodegrade in 90 to 240 days without leaving toxic residues in the environment.
100BIO – Polylactic Acid (PLA) Styrofoam
Biodegradable styrofoam made of polylactic acid (PLA) composts in less than 9 weeks without exuding methane, carbon dioxide, or heavy metals. The foaming technology uses up to 60% less raw material than traditional plastic or paper products. TAG Packaging from the US creates 100BIO — a fully compostable foam for food packaging, made from PLA, that completely biodegrades in a commercial compost in less than nine weeks.
What About The Other 695 Biodegradable Material Packaging Solutions?
While we believe data is key to creating insights it can be easy to be overwhelmed by it. Our ambition is to create a comprehensive overview and provide actionable innovation intelligence for your Proof of Concept (PoC), partnership, or investment targets. The 5 biodegradable packaging material startups showcased above are promising examples out of 700 we analyzed for this article. To identify the most relevant solutions based on your specific criteria and collaboration strategy, get in touch.
