The companies have successfully pioneered the development of the world's first bioplastic packaging made from mixed food waste, with a project budget of $1m funded by the BIRD Foundation. Despite challenges presented by the global pandemic, the companies remotely collaborated, commencing their research in 2020, after securing the grant in 2019.
Project Milestones Completed:
- Validated various food waste feedstocks for polymer-grade lactic acid production by fermentation followed by biochemical purification.
- TripleW produced pilot-scale lactic acid and PLA, and provided samples to Corumat for further processing. Corumat then produced carbon-negative, food waste-derived sample products that matched the performance of conventional plastic products.
- Corumat's pilot-scale production of plates blended from conventional and waste-derived PLA received positive feedback from clients for its quality.
- Both companies are now focused on refining the product, aiming to prove that Corumat’s food service products can also be created from 100% food waste-based PLA.
Corumat, Inc. is a materials science company driven by our mission to eliminate plastic waste and reduce climate change. This mission is enabled by using our patented materials processing technologies to make compostable, insulating, strong, and greaseproof packaging that contains no known carcinogens, at much lower costs than competitive compostable packaging and cost-competitive with conventional packaging. Corumat’s technology expands extruded polylactic acid (PLA bioplastic) that is then thermoformed into various food service packaging, such as containers and plates. Corumat has a manufacturing facility in Yakima, WA.
TripleW's lactic acid and PLA bioplastic is made from 100% food waste and provides a low cost, versatile alternative to fossil-based materials. TripleW’s technology also makes it possible to utilize post-consumer compostable bioplastic waste as feedstock for production of more lactic acid, further closing the materials loop.
TripleW technology is at the forefront of addressing both environmental and financial waste management challenges. TripleW transforms existing waste management infrastructure, providing new revenue streams and profits for waste management stakeholders, while producing useful bioproducts.
BIRD is an acronym for Israel-U.S. Binational Industrial Research and Development. The BIRD Foundation’s mission is to stimulate, promote and support industrial R&D of mutual benefit to the U.S. and Israel. The BIRD Foundation was established by the U.S. and Israeli governments in 1977 to generate mutually beneficial cooperation between U.S. and Israeli companies, including start-ups and established organizations. BIRD provides both matchmaking support between U.S. and Israeli companies, as well as funding covering up to 50 percent of project development costs, up to $1.5M per project. BIRD takes no equity in the companies.
