BIOTRANSFORMATION – NEXT-GEN ENVIRONMENTAL SOLUTION

Polymateria’s proprietary biotransformation technology is actually the only one that makes it possible to go beyond “3Rs” (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) strategy by enabling “leaked” plastic waste to be safely dealt with by nature in a reasonable timescale – leaving no microplastic behind, only CO2, water and biomass. It can evidence at credible 3rd party labs full biodegradation of the most highly littered forms of plastic in real-world conditions.

Multiple catalytic and reactive substrates within its design are used to react with UV light, water (moisture) and oxygen to induce different types of chemical reactions including oxidation, carbon-carbon bond scission and hydrolyses. One of the unique elements of the techno-logy is a pre-biotic substrate, that acts as an initial food-source for microbes to increase microbial colonisation of the packaging once in the ground, to help boost the biodegradation in the early stages of decay.

During the service life of the packaging, the technology is dormant and retains all its functionalities. It is adjustable onset to support the circular economy, provides a flexible time-controlled aspect to empower consumers and gives recycling every chance to happen by means of “Recycle by” marking date concept.

The technology is fully compatible with the recycling stream of conventional plastic products, proven and verified by independent recycling institution using world-class protocol¹. The internationally accepted level required to show complete biodegradation is the attainment of a % biodegradation of greater than 90%. The remaining material is converted to water and biomass.

AIR LIGHT MOISTURE MICROBES

CO2, water, biomass

0%

100%

PHASE 1 PHASE 2 PHASE 3

Product service life Weathering after litteringBiodegradation in the natural

environment of bioavailable waxes

Time

Physical Integrity

SMART TECHNOLOGY FOR MAKING SINGLE-USE CUPS MORE SUSTAINABLE

Paper cups offer great convenience to consumers. They don’t leak, break, melt or warp. They don’t change the way beverages taste. It’s cheap enough to be mass produced. It’s light and stackable, so it can be easily transported and stored.

But paper cups are hard to recycle. They present a problem for paper mills, the traditional route to recycle used fibres. They would have to separate the cups’ plastic lining from the paper. If recycling facilities try to recycle paper cups without separating out materials first, the plastic lining is likely to jam up their machines. That makes the cups effectively non-recyclable at most facilities.

Circa 500 billion single use paper cups are produced in a year worldwide, 100 billion paper cups usually end up in landfills and the rest in the environment, where the plastic lining can break down into microplastics that may harm marine life or enter the human food chain.

The only technology in the world to have achieved full biodegradation on conventional polyolefins- based flexible and rigid packaging in less than two years.*

Niall Dunne, CEO Polymateria

¹ As per RecyClass™ Recyclability evaluation protocol for PP rigids.* Under mesophilic conditions as per ASTM D5988/ISO 17556

KEY BENEFITSBIOTRANSFORMATION DRINKING CUPS (VS. PE COATED PAPER CUP)

Provide the same functional benefits as paper cups. Fully scalable for mass production.

Higher recovery rate post-consumer use thanks to a broader availability of conventional PP recycling network,

driving waste away from landfills.

Clearer direction for disposal while empowering consumers for recycling to happen post-consumer use.

Better protection of natural ecosystems against persisting pollution and microplastics in case of inappropriate release

or leakage out of waste collection systems.

Better economics – up to 30% cost saving potential.

Fully compliant with FDA and EU regulations for applications in contact with food. (GRAS statement and

EU regulation 10/2011)

ABOUT POLYMATERIA:

Polymateria is a London based privately held Advanced Technology Development Company focused on new gen environmental solutions for the global plastic value chain. Their state-of-the-art R&D and highly specialised manufacturing facilities are located at the Imperial College innovation I-Hub, London, UK. A multi-disciplinary team of researchers and PhDs from the fields of biology, polymer science and chemistry fully embrace the circular economy and support the reduction of single-use plastic, to reuse a long-life durable plastic and a more effective recycling system.

Polymateria’s technology was designed from inception to be compatible with all existing global forms of waste plastic processing globally, whilst retaining a backup technology to ensure that the plastics that leak or escape from the system are able to biodegrade in the natural environment after their useful life.

#recycleby 09/2021

P/F CRITERIA 0.2-0.3L CUP 0.5L CUP 0.5L CUP

Thickness Microns 200 300 500

Manufacturing process Thermoformed Thermoformed Injection Moulding

Pigments/Additives None None None

CI >1 1.03 1.22 2.04

Reduction in MW (%) >90% 98.3% 97.7% 93.2%

Mn (Da)