Victorian startup Great Wrap has received a grant of more than $500,000 which it says will go towards the commercialisation and manufacturing of the company’s recently-launched certified compostable stretch wrap at a national scale.
The grant was acquired in the latest funding round of the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre’s (AMGC) latest $30 million Commercialisation Fund.
Great Wrap’s parent company Plantabl received $534,760 towards its $6.41 million work to commercialise and manufacture Great Wrap’s biopolymer resin (cling wrap) derived from organic waste, to produce a compostable stretch wrap that can replace plastic cling, silage, and pallet wrap.
The company has recently launched the world’s first certified compostable catering wrap made from food waste.
Great Wrap co-founder Julia Kay said the government commitment will enable the business to commercialise and manufacture the compostable stretch wrap at a national scale.
“By its final commissioning in 2023, the project will have created more than 100 jobs at Great Wrap, spanning across advanced manufacturing, engineering, research, sales and marketing.
“It will enormously decrease Australians’ dependency on petroleum-based stretch wrap, and it will convert over 50,000 tonnes of local food waste into domestic and industrial products,” Kay said, pointing out that one large winery alone will use more than 50,000 kilometres in wrap each year, which is enough to circumnavigate the world.
The wrap is certified compostable, meaning it breaks down into carbon and water in less than 180 days in commercial and home compost, leaving zero microplastics behind.
The investment will also enable its factory to remove 400,000 tonnes of CO2 – the equivalent of taking nearly 100,000 cars off the road – that would normally have been released every year.
Founded only two years ago, husband and wife team Jordy and Julia Kay developed a compostable wrap formula using food waste rather than plant-based materials. They started with a retail product, developed the commercial grade catering product and are now accepting pre-orders for pallet wrap.
“Australia alone goes through 150,000 tonnes of stretch wrap each year. We are on a mission to turn a third of that into Great Wrap by 2023,” Kay said.
“Commercial industries haven’t seen a shift like this, ever. We are providing an easy solution for businesses to eliminate single-use plastics from their supply chain and we’re looking to partner with businesses to help them close the loop and reach NetZero,” she added.
From launching with just each other, they had employed 35 people, invested in two machines and offices within eight months.
Jordy Kay said, “We raised $3 million in a seed raise and have worked closely with Monash University and our own R&D team to fast track a commercial scale project.”
“This year, we plan to expand internationally and continue to grow exponentially.”
