While reducing and recycling your plastic consumption and reusing what you already have is the gold standard for lowering your waste production, the need for single use plastics during a global pandemic isn’t going away anytime soon. One way to lessen the burden of this waste is to use biodegradable products which break down in landfills rather than sticking around for hundreds of years.
PlantSwitch, which announced this week it raised $3.25 million in seed funding, is one biodegradable plastics company trying to make the world a greener place. The company upcycles agave waste from tequila production to make a resin which is then formed into affordable, single-use plastic products.
Founded in 2020 by Dallas-based Dillon Baxter and Maxime Blandin, PlantSwitch’s products are able to degrade over 90 percent in just 100 days in landfills. The plant-based straws and cutlery then degrade fully within one to five years. According to the company’s website, that’s much faster than its competitors’ traditional commercially compostable products.
“Even with the barriers that the global pandemic and related supply chain challenges presented from the outset of our launch, we’ve been able to bring on new customers and meet supply demands throughout — a testament to the quality of PlantSwitch products and the strong customer base and reliable supply chains we have built,” Baxter, PlantSwitch’s CEO, said in a statement.
PlantSwitch plans to use its seed funding to expand its product offerings to include other compostable single-use plastic and packaging products such as cups, plates, water bottles, food takeout containers, and cosmetic and CPG packaging. The company is also looking to scale its supply chain infrastructure and hire new talent. Investors in the funding round were not disclosed.
