Market Entry traceless materials

Project Information

MaEtra

Grant agreement ID: 190181549

DOI

10.3030/190181549

Project closed

EC signature date 1 August 2022

Start date 1 January 2022

End date 31 December 2023

Funded under

• The European Innovation Council (EIC)

Total cost

€ 3 464 498,75

EU contribution

€ 2 425 149,00

Coordinated by

TRACELESS MATERIALS GMBH
Germany

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - MaEtra (Market Entry traceless materials)

Reporting period: 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Plastics significantly contribute to the consumption of fossil resources and to climate change, accounting for 3.4% of total global greenhouse gas emissions. Only 9% of all plastic waste worldwide is recycled, 19% is incinerated, and 22% is mismanaged - leading to severe pollution of ecosystems with macro- and microplastics. traceless materials GmbH has developed a disruptive technology to help solve this complex challenge. With their innovative process technology, they use biomass residues from agriculture to produce the natural substitute traceless® - completely regenerative, fossil-free, plastic-free and biocircular. Production and disposal generates up to 95% less CO2 emissions compared to conventional plastics.


The properties of the material are very diverse due to its special combination of natural polymers. It…
can be processed using standard thermoplastic processing technologies like injection molding or extrusion
can replace plastics in various short-lived applications like packaging, single-use or paper coatings
has many comparable properties to conventional (bio)plastics
is chemically plastic-free as it is based on unmodified natural polymers, thus not falling under the EU Single-Use Plastic Directive
is free of chemicals like PFAS - both in process and product
At the end of their life cycle, products made of traceless® are naturally regenerative and safely disposable in all existing infrastructures, without affecting sorting or treatment. The material is certified compostable in home compost and converted into organic nutrients, water and CO2 by microbial digestion within 2-9 weeks (depending on the material thickness). With this exceptionally short composting time, traceless material exceeds standards for biodegradable materials.
By scaling this technology, traceless aims to build a green and sustainable biobased industry in Europe, commercializing a technology that offers huge environmental and economic potentials.


The aim of this project is to build a single-purpose demonstration plant for the first-time implementation of the manufacturing process on a large scale in Hamburg. The demonstration plant will minimise the technical risk of scaling up to an industrial plant and prove the fully automated series production of the material and enable a regular market entry with series-produced products.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

We have put our pilot plant into regular operation and can thus already produce a continuous flow of material, whereby a wide variety of material qualities and types could be tested and actually produced here. We have already developed material formulations for injection molding, foiling and coating and are working daily to unlock the application potential and optimize quality through R&D activities. These formulations could be brought to a technical level that they can also be used in the next scaling-up step.
We have also demonstrated the further processing of our material with the help of our more than 30 partners, among others from the plastics processing industry, on their equipment. This resulted in the further patenting of our formulations. Through the successful launch of our first market pilot, we were able to ensure the market readiness of our materials in product applications from a scientific and technical perspective. In addition to producing the material in the pilot plant, we have used various tests to prepare our production steps for scale-up in the demonstration plant. We have determined the location of our demonstration plant and secured the financing, production and construction permissions at this site.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

traceless has been working from the beginning with customers from the consumer goods industry, which have a strong interest in traceless material, as well as customers from the converting industries. First products were launched in joint market pilots in 2022. However, to become a relevant alternative, the production capacity for traceless materials needs to be scaled up, allowing to supply sufficient material for the demand and lowering cost of production.
With the demonstration plant, the production costs for the traceless material will be reduced to such an extent that the granulate can be offered at a price competitive with bioplastics. A significant share of the output capacity of the demonstration plant has already been sold through off-take agreements. Based on current planning, the demonstration plant can be operated profitably from the time it is commissioned. The proof-of-scale from the industrial plant will enable the financing of further industrial production facilities. On an industrial scale, the production of the traceless material will then be price-competitive with fossil plastics.