EU opens doors for UBQ’s climate-friendly thermoplastic with environmental claim validation

31 Aug 2022 --- Israeli tech startup UBQ Materials has landed a UL Environmental Claim Validation (2809), which confirms the company’s thermoplastic is made entirely of unsorted municipal waste and contains 100% post-consumer recycled content. The validation opens the European market up to UBQ’s flagship material.

UL Solutions is a global safety science leader that holds companies accountable for environmental sustainability claims through independent scientific assessments. The UL 2809 certification confirms that UBQ Powder is composed entirely of post-consumer recycled content.

Tato Bigio, co-CEO and co-founder of UBQ, tells PackagingInsights that European companies and manufacturers can now substitute oil-based resins with UBQ to maximize post-consumer recycled content in products – a legal requirement within the EU.

“The EU obligates that packaging products contain at least 30% recycled material. In addition to such public regulation, certain sectors (such as the automotive industry) have imposed on themselves the standard of using 25% recycled material by 2025,” he says.

“As a result, being recognized to contain 100% post-consumer recycled content, which UL2809 certification confirms, creates even further value for industry leaders throughout Europe and beyond who use UBQ Materials across their value chains. We expect to see increased demand from manufacturers in diverse sectors.”

Waste to products
Patented worldwide, UBQ describes itself as the most “climate-friendly thermoplastic on the market.” By breaking down almost any household municipal waste, from chicken bones and diapers to plastic waste and cardboard, the company says it has discovered a method of reconstituting material elements into usable products. For every ton of UBQ produced, up to 12 tons of CO₂ equivalent are prevented from polluting the environment.

UBQ material consists entirely of unsorted household waste.UBQ has partnered with leading brands, including Mercedes-Benz, PepsiCo, and McDonald’s, to help reduce the carbon footprint of their end products, maximize recycled content and “preserve finite resources without compromising on profitability.”

Albert Douer, the company’s chairman and co-CEO, emphasizes that its secretive conversion process could be essential in helping industry achieve both its legal and self-imposed climate targets.

“In light of regulations and taxations, global corporations are running against the clock to assess and implement solutions to fulfill ambitious ESG commitments. There is an urgent and growing demand for quality post-consumer recycled content materials that support these goals,” he says.

“Utilizing unsorted household waste, an abundant and globally available resource, we have a scalable and cost-competitive material that we can confidently supply to the industry today.”

UBQ completed a funding round of US$170 million in December last year.

UBQ advancing
The announcement of UBQ’s new UL Solutions certification comes as the company makes headway in its international expansion.

A new production facility is set to begin operating in the Netherlands next year, and recently several major brands entered partnerships with UBQ. PepsiCo Labs ordered 30,000 shipping pallets made with UBQ material, following a trial with Lay’s chip stand that also partly contained UBQ.

In May, the company also teamed up with Polymertal, which used UBQ to make SPP-50XX, a metalized polymer with environmental benefits.

SPP-50XX hosts a thin metal plating on top of a substrate consisting of 20% UBQ, enabling the material to exhibit key metallic properties while remaining lightweight. The novel material carries a significantly reduced carbon footprint from that of aluminum, an often favored lightweight metal.

By Louis Gore-Langton

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