Cruz Foam makes a substitute for Styrofoam from shrimp shells, meals waste

Greater than 100 cities within the US have enacted ordinances particularly banning or outright banning using disposable Styrofoam by eating places and for transport meals and different merchandise. Within the state of California alone, 97 cities or counties have partial or full bans on single-use Styrofoam, with one other anticipated to enter impact in Los Angeles County this Could.

In the meantime, firms that ship or promote fragile items, meals or medical provides that want to remain cool throughout transport nonetheless want supplies with the light-weight, insulating properties and manufacturability of Styrofoam.

Associated Funding Information

That is the place Startup Cruise Foam is available in. The startup, based in 2017 by CEO John Felts and CTO Marco Rolandi, which right this moment has about 30 full-time workers, has created a substitute for expanded polystyrene, identified by its commerce identify Styrofoam.

Cruze foam is constituted of naturally occurring supplies together with chitin (pronounced like “kite-in”) in addition to starches and fibers extracted from agricultural waste streams. Chitin is a polymer contained within the shells of shrimp and different crustaceans in addition to insect exoskeletons. It’s biodegradable and usually secure for animal consumption.

In distinction, conventional Styrofoam is made utilizing heavy chemical compounds, degrades slowly, and has confirmed dangerous when it accumulates in our oceans and provides to micro-plastic air pollution.

In accordance with wildlife conservation researchers at Fauna & Flora Worldwide, when marine life ingests Styrofoam it may trigger “plenty of issues reminiscent of digestive obstructions, a false sense of fullness that may result in hunger, and decreased fertility.” ” As well as, Styrofoam merchandise are often handled with flame retardants and might soak up different pollution from the water round them, growing the chance to any wildlife that stay amongst discarded Styrofoam. or lives.

John Felts, CEO and cofounder of Cruise Foam, says he and CTO Marco Rolandi bonded throughout their undergraduate research in supplies science over a love of the ocean, browsing, and a need to take pleasure in nature with out hurt.

He based mostly his startup in Santa Cruz, California – a metropolis identified for its attractive seashores, boardwalks, surf tradition and elephant seals, and used town’s identify for his startup.

For about two years, he centered his efforts within the laboratory on growing a kind of froth from chitin that might function the core of a molded surfboard. Felts recollects that chitin was already identified to be a promising bioplastic, nevertheless it was often used to make bioplastic movies, not very fluffy foams.

As they tinkered and examined, they realized they may make a huge effect on the well being of the ocean in the event that they addressed a much bigger market than surfboards. He shifted his focus to packaging.

Since then, Cruz Foam has developed a foam pellet from pure supplies that may be extruded and formed into a variety of packaging supplies and containers on the identical equipment present in factories making conventional Styrofoam merchandise right this moment.

On Wednesday, Cruz Foam formally launched its new vary of transport merchandise which embody:

• A foam and paper wrap that may change bubble wrap or Styrofoam peanuts
• a foam-padded mailer
• Foam coolers that may protect contemporary and frozen objects and maintain them chilly
• Foam merchandise that shield bigger objects reminiscent of furnishings.

All of its new packaging merchandise are “curbside recyclable” and compostable, Felts stated.

Felts stated the froth dissolves in a bath of water and might be sprinkled over a garden or backyard to soundly add some nitrogen again into the soil. And it is secure in case your canine, or your fish, eats any of the suds.

To finance its growth to this point, Cruise Foam acquired a $2 million grant from the Nationwide Science Basis to develop supplies and manufacturing processes. The startup has raised simply over $25 million in enterprise funding from local weather tech and science-focused buyers together with Eight One Ventures, Ashton Kutcher and his local weather fund Sound Waves, Helena Group, Regeneration VC and others.

One founding companion Tom Chee stated his agency needs to help firms making a distinction to the well being of the ocean. He famous “closed loop plastic recycling”, the place firms take again the packaging they create and recycle it, however the unit economics there don’t work because of the excessive value of “reverse logistics and post-consumer materials processing”. Does

Cruise Foam’s strategy, Chi stated, “solves the issue through the use of Earth-compatible supplies within the first place, however does so in a method that may be immediately cost-competitive with virgin foam manufacturing.”

The startup has partnered with North Carolina-based Atlantic Packaging to carry its sustainable foam merchandise to a wider vary of grocers and retailers. And Cruz Foam is predicted to maneuver to its first part of high-volume manufacturing by mid-2023, Felts informed CNBC.

In terms of new merchandise, Felts acknowledged that there’s a big demand for disposable insulating espresso cups and takeout containers. However this 12 months his firm’s focus might be on e-commerce, transport and defending every little thing from automotive elements and medical provides to meal kits.

The pandemic has elevated demand for e-commerce and transport, Felts stated, however many companies are nonetheless determining the way to make or promote items on to properties as a substitute of by grocers or retailers, and that features their packaging. together with reconsideration by the top of ,