Announcing this award makes us particularly proud, because it is really a recognition of the core of traceless: our material and process innovation in the field of biopolymers. The award is honouring "pathbreaking products or applications of biodegradable polymers, but also technological innovations for production" (quote from the award's website). What a great recognition! And we are even prouder that it comes from our target sector - the plastic industry.
The jury consists of five plastic industry and science experts, including Dr. Martin Bussmann, team leader Biodegradable Packaging and Technical Marketing at BASF SE, and Dr. Patrick Hirsch, expert of bioplastic materials at the Fraunhofer Institute for Materials and Systems (IMWS) Halle (Saale).
Here is the jury statement:
Can materials from nature that are neither chemically modified nor synthetically polymerised be called plastics at all? The fact that this question, among others, was discussed in the jury session already shows: The Hamburg-based start-up is treading untrodden paths. The process developed by co-founder Anne Lamp in scientific work and for which a patent application has been filed makes it possible to produce storage-stable films, solid materials and wafer-thin coatings from by-products of the agricultural industry. These have the advantageous properties of plastics, but are still fully compostable in nature. The fact that the raw materials do not compete with food production, that the process is energy-saving and that the end products do not contain harmful additives such as solvents rounds off the overall concept of "traceless materials". Even though more extensive research still needs to be done before the product is ready, the jury awarded this innovative approach, from which a new class of materials can emerge, 2nd prize.
The award ceremony was part of Biopolymer Processing & Moulding Conress, the international congress on the future of the plastics industry. Since its premiere in 2018, this congress brings together processors and applicators, manufacturers, suppliers and researchers of biobased, biodegredable plastics.
Participants from six continents attended the online event, and could see Anne's proud and happy face when learning that traceless achieved the second place. We are alredy looking very much forward to achieving the congratulations package with the (physical) award, an a biopolymer t-shirt!
Place one and three went to Italian company GruppoFabbri, and German company Genisys - well-deserved, our congratulations!
Various professional industry media reported on the award, including plastverarbeiter.de, plasticker.de and neue-verpackung.de.