This document summarizes a proposal for developing compostable plastic film packaging. It notes that by 2050 oceans will contain more plastic than fish, with 26% being food packaging. The solution presented is to develop compostable plastic film that can serve as a replacement for conventional plastic food packaging. It outlines technical requirements for the film, as well as business models, markets, advantages, roadmaps, teams and funding needs for bringing the compostable film to market. The overall goal is to create temporary-use plastics that have a temporary life and reduce ocean plastic pollution from food packaging waste.
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NeuWorld Plastics
1. Nicole Cruz | Freesia Lee | Julie Noblitt | Nicole Palkovsky | Lisa Voss
PRESIDIO GRADUATE SCHOOL
CAPSTONE | MAY 2016
2. By 2050, the oceans
will contain more plastic
than fish
7. The oxygen barrier is difficult to make compostable
Heat resistance & printability
Oxygen barrier
(moisture, light,
gas and aroma)
Seal Strength
COMPOSTABLE
FILM
9. DEMAND for COMPOSTABLE PACKAGING
SUPPLY CHAIN
Plastic Film
Producers
Package
Mfgr
Food
Producers
Food
Distributors
Consumers Waste Mgmt
COMPOSTABLE PLASTIC FILM
10. Perkin Medal winner
200+ Patents
One-of-a-kind laboratory
Father of Green Chemistry
Commitment to sustainability
helping companies find
sustainable solutions to
chemical challenges
JOHN WARNER,
Ph.D.
President and
Chief Technical Officer
TECHNICAL
PARTNER
11. We chose them:
Innovation + Business
World-class lab
Speed
They chose us:
Problem worth solving
Commercializable
12. Revenue stream: license film IP
Licensing fees are % of customer revenue
5-year contract terms
BUSINESS
MODEL
13. Target customers: mid-sized producers $200M
- $500M annual revenue
Total addressable market: $6.5B
N. American plastic film market: $32B
MARKET
14. YR 4 YR 5YR 1-3
3
New Customers
1
Exclusive License
R&DFOCUS
$0 $3M $12MREVENUE
0% 16%(105%)PROFIT
REVENUE
16. 1st round funding
Validate the technology
First customer success
Scale to multiple customers
Scale to new applications
Policy and Market Development
ROADMAP
There is already compostable packaging for almost everything from to-go containers to coffee, cereal to chips.
But no one has solved for single-serve packets for liquid foods. Heinz alone produces 12 billion of these each year.
What if we could enjoy the convenience of foods we love without worrying about where the packaging ends up?
Imagine instead a package that could be composted right along with its contents.
At NueWorld Plastics we believe temporary-use plastics should have a temporary life.
(Moved from slide 3 so that you end on this punchy line.)
No one has created compostable packaging for single-serve packets for high-moisture foods because plastic film is more complicated than it seems. It looks like it's 1 layer but it's actually 3. 2 of those layers are easy to make compostable but 1 is not - the oxygen barrier. The reason that this is so difficult is because current oxygen barriers are designed for a multi-year shelf life and do not break down when exposed to light and air.
This is where we come in. At NeuWorld Plastics, we are creating a line of fully compostable films for high-moisture foods.
With our innovative material, companies can make entire packets that you can throw right in the compost.
We know that success means more than just creating the technology. Our compostable material needs to be implemented and utilized in the existing plastic film supply chain.
We have been actively cultivating relationships with partners involved in each part of the supply chain to understand their goals, concerns, and processes. We are implementing their feedback into our design as well as identifying partners who want to incorporate our prototype into their production.
While they may have differing perspectives, the unifying consensus is that consumers are driving demand and seeking a compostable solution but are unable to find it.
We will be selling our product to plastic film producers, at the head of the supply chain, ensuring that compostable film gets integrated at the source of plastic packaging. At the same time, we will continue to engage the entire supply chain through to the end consumer to ensure our solution works throughout the whole system.
In looking for a technical partner, we looked for an innovative material science lab that is not constrained by the demands of being immersed in this market. Our choice of technical partner was therefore John Warner, known as the Father of Green Chemistry and co-founder of the Warner Babcock Institute. The Warner Babcock Institute specializes in working on problems like ours for corporations on a white-label basis.
We chose them because:
They look at the innovation and the business proposition at the same time. For example when Adidas wanted a green chemistry lab to develop a prototype running shoe made entirely of ocean plastic, they turned to WBI.
WB created the shoe in only 6 days. They can move that fast because they do everything in house in a world-class facility
With their special commitment to nontoxic plastics, and are working on seeds of our project already if anyone can do this, they can.
They chose us, too:
They get more than 100 RFPs per year, but take on fewer than 20% of them.
They only take projects when:
it's a problem worth solving
it's commercializable
they have at least 3 approaches to solving it
- Warner Babcocks white label approach provides us with our business model. We will be able to take the compostable film technology and license it to plastic film manufacturers
- We will charge the manufacturers a % of their plastic film revenues as the licensing fee
- And we will ask for multi-year license agreements to provide us more consistent revenues
- Our target customers will be mid-sized plastic film manufacturers with about $200-$500M annual film revenues. These mid-sized players are a sweet spot because they tend to be the ones working with specialty package makers who are most eager for a compostable alternative
There are about 20 of these mid-sized producers in the U.S., giving us a total addressable market of $6.5 B
- ... within an overall north American plastic film market of over $32B the opportunity is huge
- Over the next 3 years our primary focus will be developing the prototype and proving the technology
We will work with a commercial development partner to develop the prototype, and in year 4 we will offer that partner a 1-year exclusive license to the technology
- In year 5 we will open up to other customers, and by that stage we expect $12M of revenue and 16% profit
The film creation industry is highly consolidating.
There are a dozen commercial labs either actively working to create a compostable film or interested in creating one.
To date, no one has solved this problem and we believe that NeuWorld Plastics will succeed where others are still struggling.
In addition to a world class technical partner with the Warner Babcock Institute, our singular focus on compostable film and WBIs iterative process allow for rapid prototype creation and testing.
What really sets us apart is our network of partnerships along the supply chain.
Where are competitors are working in silos, we will engage stakeholders throughout the supply chain to ensure that we are creating a product that will work at every step of the food packaging process.
Over the next 3 years well be validating and perfecting the technology for compostable film for high-moisture foods.
Once we have debuted the technology with our first exclusive partner and then scaled to other customers, we plan to scale compostable film to the cosmetics, house hold goods, and healthcare industries.
Simultaneously, we will work to support and create policy that is favorable to elimination of disposable plastics, which will help create further market demand.
Here is the team that will make it all happen.
In addition to an outstanding technical partner, our team has combined decades of experiences in technology and healthcare innovation and sustainability.
and leading large scale change management initiatives.
Our commitment to the problem is what has brought us this far, our experience and abilities will make this solution a reality.
The jurors for the 2016 TBP Innovation Competition have recognized the strength of our idea and our team - we are finalists in that competition.
This is a significant opportunity to solve an unmet need.
Were looking for a $90K grant to get started and ~$2million over 36 months to develop and pressure test the prototype.
Without the prototype nothing else can happen, and literally every minute we wait is another garbage truck's worth of plastic in the ocean.
Join us!