Our Innovation Analysts recently looked into emerging technologies and up-and-coming startups working on solutions for packaging. 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 4 promising startups offering plastic packaging recycling technologies.
Heat Map: 4 Top Plastic Recycling Technology Startups for Packaging
Through the Big Data & Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered StartUs Insights Discovery Platform, covering over 3 790 000+ startups & scaleups globally, we identified 16 solutions for plastic packaging recycling. The Global Startup Heat Map below highlights the 4 companies you should watch as well as the geo-distribution of all 16 startups & scaleups we analyzed for this research. Based on the heat map, we see high startup activity in the US and Western Europe.
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Interested to explore all 16 plastic package recycling startups?
The Good Plastic Co. offers Post-Consumer Recycled Plastics
Plastic that has been made into a product, used, thrown away, collected, cleaned, reprocessed, and remade into something new is called post-consumer recycled plastic. Current technologies do not allow all types of plastics to be recycled. Startups are innovating in different ways to break down plastics of all types so as to ensure it is not sitting in landfill or in the oceans.
Dutch startup The Good Plastic Company develops plastic recycling technology that is capable of recycling 90% of existing plastic types by turning plastic waste into beautiful decorative panels of 1x1m and thickness ranging between 5mm to 30mm. Easily portable, their equipment allows easy recycling of plastic waste right at its source, in any part of the world.
Novoloop advances Chemical Plastic Recycling
Polyethylene is the most popular plastic in the world accounting for over 30% of all plastics globally. It is primarily used in packaging as it is a light and very durable material. While high-density polyethylene is commonly accepted for recycling, innovations in technology have allowed lower-density polyethylene to reach recycling centers as well. Chemical recycling breaks down plastics to their monomer form, allowing them to be remade as a good quality plastic product.
The US-based startup Novoloop develops plastic recycling technology using chemical processes to convert post-consumer plastics into the building blocks for synthetic chemistry and synthetic biology: succinic acid, glutaric acid, adipic acid, pimelic acid, suberic acid, and azelaic acid. Extracted chemically from grocery bags, bubble wraps, trash bags, retail packaging, food wraps, and such, their innovation can potentially use plastic waste to replace fossil fuel as a resource for sustainable supply chains.
NexGenCup aids Single-Use Plastic Replacement
The statistics on the state of single-use plastic and paper items in the world today are almost incomprehensible. With over half a trillion single-use plastic cups disposed of, the quantities being sent to the landfill are alarming. To top it all off, plastic content after use, chlorine content when disposed of in the water, and release of carbon dioxide and other pollutants to make them, can all impact life on earth. Startups are starting to find solutions to replace the hundreds of different items of plastic we use just once.
The US-based startup NexGen Consortium aims to refine and coordinate the entire journey of single-use plastic cups to get them into recycling units. They host the NexGenCup, an open innovation challenge that has already given rise to 12 innovative cup solutions from making them compostable and recyclable at home to new materials for making the cups. Packaging, recovery, and supply chain experts provide insights for using the right type of cups.
REPETCO Innovations enables Multi-Plastic Recycling
One of the biggest problems with recycling plastics is that only a part of it, and not all of it can be recycled. This results in many partly-recyclable items completely eliminated from recycling chains. Startups have been looking to find technologically advanced solutions that can break down or recycle all types of plastics.
REPETCO Innovations is a Spanish startup that simplifies the recycling of multilayer PET/PE containers. The company recycles containers of post-food consumption origin after delaminating multilayer plastic packages to produce rPET pellets. Its process also eliminates the use of harmful chemicals, making it sustainable. The rPET pellets find use in the food, textile, and automotive industries.
Discover All Emerging Packaging Startups
The packaging startups showcased in this report are only a small sample of all startups we identified through our data-driven startup scouting approach. Download our free Packaging Innovation Report for a broad overview of the industry or get in touch for quick & exhaustive research on the latest technologies & emerging solutions that will impact your company!
