Startup turning plastic waste into wax wins fans

A British startup's innovation to tackle plastic pollution by decomposing the material into a wax that's digested by nature is making inroads in Asia.

Polymateria Ltd, which has a lab on Imperial College London's campus, has struck a deal with a supplier to 7-Eleven in Taiwan, Polymateria CEO Niall Dunne said in an interview. The company has also inked a deal worth as much as $100 million to license its technology to Taiwan's Formosa Plastics Corp, one of the biggest petrochemical manufacturers.

"We're targeting the type of plastic that's most likely to wind up in nature with a solution that doesn't need any composting technologies to biodegrade or capital expenditure," Dunne said. "We're focused on Asia since that's where a lot of the fugitive plastic is coming from and there aren't massive waste management systems in place."

Godrej Consumer Products Ltd in India will also start to use Polymateria's packaging beginning later this year, he said. The startup also has licensing agreements with producers in the Philippines and Malaysia.

The deals are part of the London startup's plan to tackle one of the world's biggest waste problems: so-called fugitive plastic from snack wrappers, cups and shopping bags that finds its way into oceans and landfills. The company says it's the first to offer a fully biodegradable solution that leaves no microplastics behind and doesn't require any special equipment to manufacture or biodegrade. Still, the technology isn't without controversy, with some scientists calling for an approach that's based on reducing the use of plastics and recycling instead.

Polymateria's technology uses about a dozen different chemicals, including rubbers, oils and desiccants, that are added to plastic during the manufacturing process. The additives can be adjusted to create thin films that cover food products or more rigid materials to make cups or drink pouches. The products can be customized to selfdestruct after a certain time. The additives help break down plastic polymers and turn the plastic into a wax that's fully digested by natural bacteria and fungi.

The thinner packing materials can decompose in as little as 226 days in tests. By contrast, it takes around 1,000 years for a plastic bag to degrade in landfills.