RAIKU is a cleantech company that has developed a breakthrough packaging material and its production technology to solve the massive pollution in the packaging industry. We will substitute plastics and other high-carbon packaging materials (bubble wrap, paper, cartons, bioplastics) with our 100% natural, compostable, beautiful, and shock absorbing material. RAIKU’s packaging filling is made out of only one raw material, wood, and no chemicals or additives are used in the production. The raw material use is extremely efficient as we can turn 1 m3 of wood into 15-20 m3 of packaging. Combined with very low amounts of energy and water, we can offer one of the lowest packaging materials in the world, if not the lowest. For example, compared to paper and carton production we reduce wood use by over 90%, energy use by 95% and water use by 98%. In addition, chemical use will be reduced by 100% as we use none. Compared to paper/carton, RAIKU’s material is much more protective, aesthetic, similar or even lower priced, and offers a minimally 10 times smaller CO2 footprint.
This innovation comes at an important time in an industry that is worth €1 trillion and will continue to grow to €1.5 trillion by 2030. Packaging is a massive source of pollution where only 9% of plastics is recycled globally. At the same time, the EU has set very strict targets in relation to Green Deal and Fit for 55, where all industries have to bring down their footprint by 55%. The packaging sector itself is being heavily regulated, e.g. Single Use Plastics Directive and Packaging Waste Directives. We can see the shift from the market itself - 81% of consumers now expect sustainable packaging. In addition, the sustainable packaging market is growing 2-3 times faster than traditional – from €336.7 billion in 202 to €897.43 billion by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 10.30%. There is a clear opportunity and need in this sector for new innovative materials, especially since the sector doesn’t have any scaled-up low-footprint packaging and the market uses mainly technologies from previous centuries.
