Your business came to life in order to tackle the harmful effects of polystyrene — what makes this material so damaging for our environment?
Polystyrene is an insidious plastic that has been devastating our oceans for almost 70 years. It has dominated food and pharmaceutical cold supply chains for shipping temperature sensitive products in transit. Made from toxic and non renewable fossil fuels, it takes 500 years to break down, if in fact it ever does. These plastics break down into small micro fragments that find their way into the oceans, they threaten biodiversity, destroy marine habitats, are ingested by marine life, move up the food chain and are increasingly a threat to human health. Styrene, the biggest chemical used in the manufacturing of this product has been reported as being a human carcinogen. Just recently in Australia micro fragments of polystyrene have been found in human breast milk. It’s time that polystyrene is banned!
You came up with an alternative for this. How did the idea come about and how does it actually work?
The idea was born eight years ago, when I was contracted to set up the operation for what is now Australia’s largest meal kit provider. Because this was a subscription model, customers had received a polystyrene box every week, they are not kerbside recyclable and there was no to responsibly dispose of them. This sent us on a mission to find a sustainable option, thinking that one would already exist in the market. When I realized that was not the case, we decided to develop one.
We proceeded to research many different types of natural fibers and it was then that we discovered the thermal properties of wool. What our solution does is mimic nature, it leverages the thermal properties that keep sheep warm in winter and cool in summer. We set about to replicate this inside a regular cardboard carton. Wool is by its nature compostable and at the end of life, breaks down to deliver valuable nutrients into the soil. It is a truly fantastic alternative.
It is also worth noting that Australia is renowned globally for its wool. It is the number one wool-producing country in the world. There are a lot of sheep being raised for their meat, leaving their wool as a by-product with no commercial value; it is destined for landfill. At Planet Packaging we have taken this waste-stream, diverted it from landfill, monetized it—generating new revenues for sheep farmers—and developed a disruptive product that is replacing a problematic plastic. We have borrowed from nature to create a product that is a building-block for the circular economy. Our ingenious innovation has been recognized globally for its unrivalled ‘green credentials’. We are the Winner of the National Sustainability Awards, a highly coveted award that we won up against the elite of Australia’s corporates.
What are the main economic sectors that can benefit from a solution like this?
In packaging, we are involved in food and pharmaceuticals—essentially anything that needs to maintain temperature stability. For instance, we recently developed a solution for lobster transportation. The lobster industry in Australia exports live lobsters to China; they were experiencing an unacceptably high mortality rate but we worked with them to design a 1005 plastic free solution that reduced the mortality rate to 0.5%. There are so many other opportunities to explore, for instance in building and construction, we are developing products for building insulation to improve energy efficiency. We are supporting businesses not only to become more sustainable, but also to realise their ESG goals, which is now an imperative for all businesses to retain market share.
Are you planning to expand internationally? If so, are there any georgraphies you looking at with priority?
Planet Protector is a social enterprise. Impact is embedded in our DNA. so international expansion is the key to propelling our growth.. Australia and New Zealand are very small, together they amount to 1.3% in the global market for packaging. We have our eyes set firmly on South East Asia which represents a phenomenal 46% of the global market. It’s first stop India early 2024; they manufacture 60% of global pharmaceuticals and export to more than 200 countries, all in polystyrene. Then there is Japan and Singapore who have expressed in climate-friendly technologies for its green transition. South Asia in general is a very promising market, and a good starting point for us.
There seem to be a lot of opportunities ahead of you. Are there also notable challenges that stand in the way?
The biggest challenges are always around resources, both human and financial. Australian investors are very conservative and risk averse; everything is on a smaller scale here.But we are super excited to have just secured our high profile lead investor, and are now looking for capital and opportunities all around the world.
What are you most looking forward to in the coming years?
It was always our vision to manufacture here in Australia, and with the support of our Federal Government we secured a $5 million grant to support us to establish a $15m ‘state-of-the-art’ fibre processing facility. This will not only process wool, it will also work with different kinds of natural fibers and recycled textiles, which is fantastic.
You and I can shred the dresses we are wearing, put it in our machine, and use it in building insulation or packaging, saving it from going to landfill. This capability will create new R&D opportunities and enable us to enter new product verticals.
The green transition is mammoth task we are undertaking as it involves changing the way people think, and requires a lot of education. But if we all just unite and take small steps, I really believe that we can make it happen.
