Human beings have produced more than 8.3 billion tonnes of plastic since 1950, of which only 12% has been incinerated and 9% recycled. The rest has ended up in the environment. At best, in “controlled” landfills where waste is often buried and more or less insulated from the ground. And at worst, in illegal landfills. 79% of this waste will pollute terrestrial and marine ecosystems.
Experts estimate that the oceans will contain more plastic than fish in 2050 if no action is taken. This destroys habitats, wildlife and human livelihoods. Imagine, each human being on average ingests five grams of plastic a week. But plastic is not only a waste problem, it is also a major driver of climate change: in 2019, production and incineration of plastic contributed greenhouse gases equivalent to 1,8 billion tonnes of CO2.
WILDPLASTIC recovers plastic from nature and produces recycled trash and parcel bags. They source their plastic from beaches, streets, backyards, landfills, illegal dumpsites and work with communities of collectors around the world to bring these materials back into the production cycle. All products are made of WILDPLASTIC and are 100% recyclable.
WILDBAGS emit less greenhouse gases and need fewer resources than conventional products made from virgin plastic. They clean up the planet and reduce the damage to our ecosystems. By creating new products from recovered plastic WILDPLASTIC replaces the production of new plastics and reduces our dependence on CO2 intensive fossil fuel based production. By working with partners in the Global South they help to improve the living conditions or marginalized workers in the informal economy. As a purpose company they aim at creating positive systemic environmental and social change.
WILDPLASTIC is a breakthrough in supply chain management turning wild plastic into a new, available resource for industrial standard products. WILDfoil is the world’s first foil made of 100% wild plastic LDPE. Dozens of products can be made from it.
The company will benefit from the price differential between wild and virgin plastic which will shift rapidly in favor of wild plastic due to the rising cost of CO2 emissions. At the same time the production cost of WILDPLATIC granulate will decrease significantly due to economies of scale. WILDPLASTIC has built a significant lead with a recyclate rate approaching 100%.
In order to ensure a reliable and stable inflow of supply the team at WILDPLASTIC has built an extensive network of collection initiatives (e.g. Plastic Bank, EMPOWER, Plastic for Change). This is a decisive advantage, especially when attracting B2B customers who rely on stable deliveries.
Another aspect is the high quality of the end products due to the continuous development and optimization of the technical processes of cleaning and recycling. The result of the recycling process is high quality granule as base material for standard production processes.
The strong founding team team around Christian Sigmund has managed to develop a bold, widely-known consumer brand that also serves as a quality seal for uncompromising sustainability.
In order to quantify their impact Planet A did a life cycle assessment on WILDPLASTIC. The result: The average WILDPLASTIC bag saves 51% CO2e compared to an average bag with new plastic.
See LCA here
Location: Germany, Hamburg