The Day We Entered New Land: A Recap of Our Production Facility Opening
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Last week, we officially opened our first industrial production facility in Hamburg-Harburg - a milestone we have been working toward since founding traceless® in 2020. We welcomed almost 200 guests from across industry, science and politics, including Federal Environment Minister Carsten Schneider and Senator for the Environment, Climate, Energy and Agriculture Katharina Fegebank.
The opening resonated well beyond Hamburg: ZDF covered it during prime-time news, with ARD and RTL also broadcasting segments. Detailed articles appeared in the FAZ and the Hamburger Abendblatt, and international trade press including Packaging Europe, Chemie.de, and CHEManager picked up the story.
Find the full recap, including event pictures and the official after movie, below.
Entering New Land
Our facility is located in the Neuland – New Land - district of Hamburg-Harburg, and the name could not be more fitting. It captures everything this production facility represents: the courage to venture into uncharted territory and build something that has never existed before.
Because when Anne founded traceless® in 2020, she didn't step into an existing industry. She set out to build the kind of materials industry she wished existed - one where industry and nature work together, not against each other. It is a theme that came back again and again during the opening keynotes. Speakers reflected on what it truly means to break new ground.
From vision to industrial reality - in five years
When we founded traceless® in 2020, the goal was always clear: to prove that next generation natural polymer-based materials could move beyond the lab and become industrial reality. Not as a concept, or as a pilot, but as a real, large-scale production facility, creating the world's first industrial production capacities for thermoplastic natural polymers that can be used directly as plastic substitutes.
Five years later, that vision is becoming reality.
Anne Lamp, CEO & Co-Founder: "With this facility, we are creating the world's first industrial production capacities for thermoplastic natural polymers that can be used directly as plastic substitutes. This opening marks the launch of a new materials industry - circular, clean, and future-oriented."
Scaling a world-first technology from lab to industrial reality does not happen overnight. Over the past years the traceless® team has worked relentlessly to make it possible.
Spanning 4,000 m², the facility brings together production, technology development, logistics, and administration under one roof - with an annual capacity of 3,000 tons and a team of 110 people. From day one, all facility technology has been developed entirely in-house. All central areas have already been successfully commissioned, and production will be ramped up gradually over the coming months.
Sina Spingler, COO: "When people ask what it takes to bring a world-first technology to industrial scale, I think about the last few years at traceless®. New, unprecedented processes and thousands of decisions - big and small - all had to come together at the right moment. None of this would have been possible without our exceptional team, the Tracies, who have done this pioneering work every single day. This milestone is yours."
The day itself
Guests began arriving at 15:00 at Großmoorbogen 7A - the former home of Backhaus Wedemann, a bakery that operated here for almost 40 years. From grain to bread then; from grain residues to a plastic alternative now. A full circle moment, in more ways than one.
The programme opened with welcome remarks from our CEO and Founder Anne Lamp, followed by speeches from Katharina Fegebank, Senator for the Environment, Climate, Energy and Agriculture, Carsten Schneider, Federal Minister for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Marko Schuster, COO Functional Paper & Films at Mondi Group, and Dr. Katrin Suder, Chairwoman of our Advisory Board.
Each speaker brought their own perspective. From the strategic importance of fighting plastic pollution, ending fossil dependencies and building a circular bioeconomy in Germany, over successful transformation from science to commercial solutions, to the role of pioneering customers in making the shift to plastic-free materials a commercial reality. What united them all was a shared conviction that climate-neutral transformation and industrial value creation go hand in hand. And that real progress requires the courage to enter new territory, even when the path ahead is uncertain.
The keynotes were followed by the highlight of the afternoon: the official ribbon cutting. Afterwards, guests had the opportunity to ask questions during a Q&A, before the afternoon closed with networking and a buffet. The conversations that evening made one thing clear: the momentum behind sustainable material innovation has never been stronger.
But, words only go so far. Watch the official after movie here to see it for yourself:
The beginning of a new chapter
The opening of our production facility is, at the same time, the opening of a new chapter for materials. Natural polymer-based materials are no longer niche. They are on the agenda - in industry, in politics, and in society - and are increasingly recognised as key to a competitive, climate-neutral, and resilient economy in Europe. With pioneering customers like Mondi, OTTO, and Biesterfeld already on board, and an annual capacity of 3,000 tons, we are ready for what comes next.
Jakob Roeskamp, CFO: "This facility validates what we have always believed: that ecological necessity and economic viability are not opposites - they are deeply aligned. With real customers, real capacity, and a clear path forward, traceless® is open for business at scale. And the market for sustainable materials is growing fast."
Picture gallery traceless® opening event
New land doesn't come with a map. But with this facility, we have taken the first steps, and we already know where we want to go next.
To everyone who has been part of this journey - our team, partners, customers, investors and supporters - thank you. This milestone belongs to all of you as much as it does to us.
This is just the beginning. 💚
