From Garage
to Factory

AI-optimized waste management. Digital dermatological treatment. These two innovative business ideas, one from WeSort.AI and the other from Dermanostic, were what convinced the jury at this year’s German Entrepreneurial Awards. On September 24, 2024, the awards were announced in the capital city, Berlin, for the 22nd consecutive year. They are the country’s most prominent honor for outstanding entrepreneurial performance. The founders of WeSort.AI won the “StartUp” (start-up) category with their AI-supported high-speed method of sorting waste. And the founders of Dermanostic were recognized in the “Aufsteiger” (rising star) category for their smartphone app enabling prompt and high-grade dermatological care.

The Traceless Materials start-up is an example of how innovative ideas can be put into practice and winners of the German Entrepreneurial Awards can become notable companies. The idea for Traceless came from Hamburg native Dr. Anne Lamp in 2019 during her doctoral studies at the Hamburg University of Technology. In 2022, by then CEO of Traceless, Dr. Lamp and her co-founder, COO Johanna Baare, took top honors in the start-up category of the German Entrepreneurial Awards for their outstanding product and contribution to the global fight against plastic waste. A lot has happened since the company was founded in 2020. Behind the grey rolling door of a factory hall in the northern German town of Buchholz south of Hamburg, Lamp and Baare have continued to work toward their ambitious goal of a world without plastic waste. The key is their bio-based granulate, which can be further processed into a sustainable alternative to plastic.

The innovative material is made of residues from processing grain. Of note is that this alternative to plastic is 100 percent biodegradable under natural composting conditions — within a record time of two to twelve weeks depending on thickness, the founders promise. As the name Traceless suggests, this is a solution that leaves no harmful traces behind.

Investors, too, are convinced that the start-up has a successful future. In a large-scale financing round in September 2023, the young entrepreneurs secured 36.6 million euros, marking a milestone expected to usher in a breakthrough. With more than 50 employees at present, the Traceless team is still producing small volumes of its granulate at an initial pilot plant in Buchholz. That should now change, as funding flows into the first industrial-scale facility in Hamburg. The project is also receiving subsidies of more than five million euros from the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV). Construction began in 2024. And mass production of the patent-pending bio-based material is scheduled to start in 2025.

The new plant will produce several thousand tons of the granulate annually. Carbon emissions and fossil fuel requirements will be 90 percent lower than those for conventional plastic production. This opens new horizons for the founders in attaining their goal of widespread replacement of plastic materials. “By scaling up our innovative technology, we’re demonstrating that it’s possible for the industry to be climate-friendly, circular, resilient, and regenerative,” says Dr. Lamp. “Our innovative bio-based material can make a substantial contribution to solving the problem of plastic waste.”

The bio-based granulate has a wide range of applications. It can be processed into flexible wraps as well as coatings, adhesives, and rigid molded components. Examples include single-use products such as drinking straws, ice cream spoons, and disposable tableware, as well as packaging for fruit, vegetables, and shipped goods. In parallel to ramping up production, the company and its partners are also developing pilot products made of Traceless materials. Early on, Traceless began working with the Otto e-commerce corporation to develop non-plastic packaging. Together with Lufthansa, the start-up is designing more environmentally friendly on-board food packaging and disposable cutlery. And since 2022, the C&A apparel manufacturer has been successfully testing clothes hangers made from the bio-based material.

In June 2024, Traceless launched a strategic partnership with Mondi, a global leader in the packaging and paper production sector. Their shared aim is to advance large-scale applications for the Traceless granulate as solutions for paper coatings. Conventional paper coatings often use synthetic plastics to enhance sealant and barrier properties. These coatings are generally made of non-renewable fossil resources and are not biodegradable under industrial composting conditions. As Dr. Lamp explains, “Our collaboration with Mondi is more than a partnership. It’s a high-powered combination of innovation and scale. Together we’re seeking to change the paper coatings sector by using our Traceless alternatives at a scale that only a company like Mondi can achieve. This is a major step toward a sustainable future in which our material will become the standard in everyday products.”

Another Traceless product, namely French-fry pickers, could be experienced first-hand by attendees of the Labor Tempelhof concert series in Berlin in August 2024. The pickers were developed in close cooperation with GTB Gastro Team Bremen, a catering service provider and member of Aramark, a leading catering and service management group.

The Traceless start-up expects industrial production to bring a substantial increase in its customer base. Its new plant will not only produce much larger volumes of the bio-based material, but also significantly lower the price. And this new plant in Hamburg is just an interim step on the road to full industrial production. “Industrial-scale production will make us competitive in terms of price,” says COO Baare. “Step by step, we’ll be able to close the price gap between our products and conventional plastics.”