TripleW transforms food waste into bioplastic

When he was still at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Amir Oranim was thinking about how to make the world a better place. When he was working in business development at the Weizmann Institute, he came across the concept of bioplastics – plastics produced from environmentally friendly materials in collaboration with childhood friend Adv. Tal Shapira, they decided to take the plunge. They established Triple W, which converts food waste into lactic acid — Shapira is CEO and Oranim is COO. This acid is used among other things in cleaning products and cosmetics, and biodegradable plastic can even be produced from it, representing an alternative to oil-based plastic.

“This acid is usually produced from food ingredients, for example corn and sugarcane, and this involves high costs and also takes time,” says Shapira. “Our process reduces the cost of producing bioplastics by 30% or more. We build the acid on waste.” Which would be thrown into household waste, taken to landfills and left for years. In this way, we actually achieve a triple win. We use food waste, we produce plastic, and we do this through a comprehensive environmentally friendly process, which results in carbon emissions reductions today, of 80%. Of the waste in Israel is sent to a landfill and it accumulates.

So how did they do it? After collecting food waste, which includes, among others, leftover fruits, vegetables and other food products, it goes through a fermentation process with the help of bacteria that decompose organic matter and produce lactic acid as a by-product. This process includes all types of chemical treatments, among others to ensure maximum efficiency of the process and leave a low environmental footprint.

The obtained lactic acid undergoes distillation and cleaning, and from there it becomes suitable for various industrial uses in a range of fields. In the food industry, for example, it is used as a flavor additive and as a preservative. In the cosmetics and cosmetics industry it can be used as a moisturizer and balm and in the medical industry it is used to produce medicines and other products. But the main benefit is the fact that the acid is an essential building block for the production of biodegradable plastic (PLA).

Today, the company has already entered advanced operations, but it still has a long way to go. “We have an advanced pilot plant in Belgium, and we have the capacity to process tens of tons of waste per day and produce tens of tons of lactic acid per year. In 2025, we will also start sales.”

TripleW's product can also enable factories that use today's food waste to manufacture tomorrow's food packaging. “A bakery that has a large amount of waste can take it and produce bags to package fresh baked goods. You can use all the food waste and byproducts of the food factory to turn them into packaging products for the factory and put them into the supply chain.

“The company also gets waste from similar plants in the field. “For example, we go to a plant that produces biogas to produce gas from waste, order the waste from it, produce PLA from it, and return the rest by 2020. – Products to it so that it can produce Biogas ones. In this way, the waste produces both biogas, which competes in the energy market, and an important new source of revenue. The income from each ton of bioplastic production is five times higher than from biogas production, so it pays off for them as well.” Meanwhile, in 2023, the company launched a range of cleaning products through Belgian cleaning products giant Ecover.

“We understood that the vision could be realized

In addition to the pilot project in Belgium, TripleW is in the process of building new production facilities in the country, which is expected to significantly increase its production volume. Shapira estimates that by the second quarter of 2026, they will be up and running. “Our goal is to go from dealing with ten tons of waste per day to 160 tons of waste per day,” he explains, adding that they aim to “sell the product to anyone who buys lactic acid.”

The company's first investor was The Hutchison Group along with private investors led by angel Eddie Shalev and serial investor Motti Kirschenbaum. The company has raised $52 million to date. “In our mindset we understood from day one that the company should stand on its own and not depend on support and grants. When we saw the results and realized that it was a vision that could be achieved, and that the company could stand on its own, we took off.”

Published by Globes, Israel Business News – en.globes.co.il – on June 6, 2024.

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