Big Green Loop - Food Waste -> Packaging
1. We want to reduce climate change and reduce ocean plastics.
2. We will reduce climate change by diverting food waste from landfills (which is 2.5% of climate change) and generate waste recovery infrastructure in the developing world by making packaging from food waste, profitably.
This is enabled through food waste -> lactic acid technology by TripleW, industrialized PLA production processes, and Corumat's patented lightweight/heat stable packaging technology.
3. We will divert food waste from landfills and reduce climate change, build infrastructure in the developing world to reduce plastic packaging waste flowing into the ocean, create packaging and foodservice items without plasticizers and carcinogenic greaseproofing agents that competitive solutions use (improving human health), reduce organics flowing to landfills and hence reduce groundwater pollution and air pollution, and enable the local circular economy by producing packaging and foodservice items close to point of use from waste.
We're working to reduce climate change and reduce plastics flowing into the ocean.
We'll reduce climate change by diverting food waste from landfills, where it would otherwise rot into methane, causing ~2.5% of climate change. We'll also reduce climate change by reducing the energy in packaging by up to 90%, and plastics for packaging use about 4% of the world's energy.
There's a company, TripleW (https://www.triplew.co/), that sterilizes food waste and ferments it into lactic acid. We were awarded a $1M grant from the BIRD foundation to make food-waste based products with them. We're developing a partnership with a major biorefinery company, Praj (https://praj.net/) and Sulzer (https://www.sulzer.com/en/shar...) to make pellets from TripleW lactic acid. We have been approved to apply for a USDA Loan Guarantee of up to $198M covering 75% of project costs for this project, but need to finalize pilot demonstration (this is where we need your help!).
Everyone that uses food service items and packaging will get packaging that has no carcinogenic plasticizers and/or fluorinated grease-proofing agents (like many current packaging technologies do) due to our high performance packaging technologies.
People that lived near former landfill sites will enjoy cleaner water and air because there will not be organic waste rotting and producing pollutants, and leaching into groundwater.
Anaerobic digesters located near landfills will create jobs, and packaging can be created locally (also creating jobs).
Packaging will be displaced with compostable, food-waste based solutions/
- Create scalable economic opportunities for local communities, including fishing, timber, tourism, and regenerative agriculture, that are aligned with thriving and biodiverse ecosystems
We reduce climate change, reduce marine pollution (by creating a profitable reason for diversion), and create local jobs. This creates
- Pilot: An organization deploying a tested product, service, or business model in at least one community.
We've raised $2M in grants from the US Environmental Protection Agency, US Department of Agriculture, and US National Science Foundation due to positive environmental aspects of our technology.
We've made $300k in pilot orders to a top-10 fast food chain, Stanley Black & Decker, and BASF. We're co-located with a major regional manufacturer, located at the pilot scale. We've been approved to apply for Phase II of a USDA Loan Guarantee of up to $198M to allow for rapid scaling. We have a commercial line ready for initial testing.
We need MIT's help to find more customers, and find more funding to enable the start-up of our commercial line. This will help us reduce climate change and ocean plastics.
CEO