Very interested in this space, but it's an excellent example of the challenges that exist taking something from a lab into commercialization. Most often these plastic alternatives are not commercially viable (even at scale). I've tangentially worked with a few companies doing similar things (taking food / other byproducts / waste and transforming it into plastic alternatives). Eventually they have to work with giant companies that are the most active users of plastic (for things like packaging) and then it becomes very difficult to find the right use case that's scalable + commercially viable (w/o passing costs onto end consumers, who realistically don't want to pay more).
Totally agree with your points on the commercial viability challenges of lab-to-market innovations in sustainable materials. Plastics is a deep hole to dig ourselves out of. It's a tough road, but I also believe we're approaching a tipping point. The tech itself keeps getting better, material science in general seems to be speeding up over the last decade in terms of discoveries, and a stronger push for eco-friendly legislation might finally tip the scale. Selfishly, I just want less microplastics in everything!
Very interested in this space, but it's an excellent example of the challenges that exist taking something from a lab into commercialization. Most often these plastic alternatives are not commercially viable (even at scale). I've tangentially worked with a few companies doing similar things (taking food / other byproducts / waste and transforming it into plastic alternatives). Eventually they have to work with giant companies that are the most active users of plastic (for things like packaging) and then it becomes very difficult to find the right use case that's scalable + commercially viable (w/o passing costs onto end consumers, who realistically don't want to pay more).
Totally agree with your points on the commercial viability challenges of lab-to-market innovations in sustainable materials. Plastics is a deep hole to dig ourselves out of. It's a tough road, but I also believe we're approaching a tipping point. The tech itself keeps getting better, material science in general seems to be speeding up over the last decade in terms of discoveries, and a stronger push for eco-friendly legislation might finally tip the scale. Selfishly, I just want less microplastics in everything!