Aker BioMarine launches Aion circular packaging company amid McDonald’s interest

15 Dec 2020 --- Krill harvester Aker BioMarine has launched Aion, a new company providing end-to-end circular products like plastic trays and shopping baskets via waste recycling and material reuse. The Norway-based business has already secured high-profile customers, including McDonald’s.

Aion is targeting annual revenue of around US$20 million before embarking on further global scale-up.

“Aker BioMarine will scale Aion through a three-stage model,” Aion’s CEO, Runa Haug Khoury, tells PackagingInsights. 

First, Aker BioMarine’s own streams of plastic and biological production residues will be recycled into new products, allowing the company to reach its zero-waste vision.

In addition, Aion will work through Aker BioMarine’s network to receive other companies’ plastic and bio-waste streams. Aion aims to manage production residues globally and will work to scale its business model with an ambition for listing.

Offering full circularity
Aker BioMarine’s CEO, Matts Johansen, explains Aion will offer full circularity as a service. “Instead of selling plastic products as a separate transaction, we are providing them through a monthly fee.”

Aion will offer end-to-end support for its customers with traceability, transparency and certifications at its core. He illustrates this with the example of a shopping basket, which can be rented by retailers. Once it is broken or needs to be replaced, Aion will pick it up and recycle it. This creates a full-circle business model with recurring revenues rather than transaction-oriented sales or profits. 

Haug Khoury chimes in that an important difference with Aion is it will keep resources in the loop. Meanwhile, products that need to be created regardless will require a certain recycled percentage. 

“The model is supporting the idea of increased resource efficiency. We are hitting on some of the broader targets regulations are looking to move toward.” 

Vertical integration 
The establishment of Aion will not impact Aker BioMarine’s nutraceutical product offerings, states Haug Khoury. 

“However, we will invite customers in. Our ambition is to raise awareness about the plastic impact in our industry and how we can jointly raise the bar on this aspect.” 

She emphasizes Aker BioMarine is a vertically integrated industrial company that can handle complex and fully traceable operations across entire value chains to end-customers. 

“We start the scale-up of AION by channeling our own principal waste streams into new value chains, with significant customer relationships already established.”

It takes a village
Aion has already established a value chain and is one of three Norwegian companies to attain B-Corp certification. 

Fast-food giant McDonald’s is a customer and uses serving trays made of ocean-retrieved recycled plastic. In a separate move last year, McDonald’s initiated a program to minimize and remove plastic and improve recyclability in its packaging across Europe. Lasse Johansen (left) created Aion. Here he is joined by Matts Johansen (center) and Runa Haug Khoury (right).

Additionally, NorgesGruppen’s Meny supermarket has introduced AION carts of recycled ocean plastics through a pilot project in some of its stores. Other customers are supermarket Kiwi Mini Pris and fashion group Varner. 

Aion is also collaborating with Cognite to introduce Circularity as a Service (Caas), which offers a plug and play software solution. This is touted as ensuring traceability, resource optimization and monitoring of the most central data points for circular product management.

Meanwhile, architecture firm Snøhetta will assist AION on future solutions and circularity product design through joint projects.

Addressing a major market
According to Aion, 260 million metric tons of plastic waste are generated annually worldwide. While the EU has set a target of 55 percent recycling of plastic packaging waste within 2030, McKinsey estimates only 16 percent of plastic waste is currently recycled. 

“There is no such thing as waste, only resources astray. These resources need to find their way into new value chains, contributing to increased resource efficiency while creating value. AION is well-positioned to play a key role in unleashing these commercial opportunities,” says Johansen.

Additionally, this service will help retail chains and other customers build marketing stories around how they are sourcing responsibly. This is crucial for today’s consumers, with Innova Market Insights pegging “Transparency Triumphs” as its Top Trend for 2021. Aion is positioning itself as having a unique place in the booming business of circularity. 

Sustainable marine ingredients 
In this space, Aker BioMarine has been taking other steps toward more sustainable sourcing of its krill. An NGO-industry collaboration including the company has permanently closed a 4,500 km2 area of ocean around Hope Bay in the northern Antarctic Peninsula. 

It is anticipated this will secure the year-round protection of the largest Adélie penguin colony in the region. 

It is also intended to send a “strong statement of intent” in support of a marine protected area in the Antarctic Peninsula from industry to the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) and the entire Antarctic community.

Last week, the company also joined forces with The Bellona Foundation, the Norwegian Seafood Federation and six other major players in the fish feed industry to improve the climate footprint of Norwegian salmon. 

The initiative seeks to accelerate the development of new raw materials for fish feed. The aim is to help slash greenhouse gas emissions while generating employment and furthering the development of the aquaculture industry.

It has been a busy quarter for Aker BioMarine, with the company also launching a new business segment addressing the eye and brain markets. 

By Katherine Durrell