Solutum corporate director: Taking alternative polymers mainstream

26 Jul 2024 --- Israel-based plastic alternative business Solutum, which produces a novel material suitable for composting and biodegradation in the natural environment, recently appointed Daniel Friedman as its new corporate director and board member. We discuss the company’s operations, solutions and market prospects.

Previously chairman and then CEO of Canada-based clean energy company Carbon Engineering, which sold for US$1.1 billion to oil company Occidental Petroleum last year, and then corporate director and CEO of space technology company MDA Space, Friedmann says he intends to use his experience to transform the packaging market. 

“Solutum is a material that, to most people, looks and feels just like plastic. It is a novel material made from existing widely available polymers,” he explains. “But unlike most alternatives, it has a broad range of safe end-of-life properties. In a managed environment, it can be industrially composted; in an unmanaged environment (like oceans and rivers) it can biodegrade in soil or water.”

“I was drawn to Solutum because of its potential to make a significant impact on solving the plastic waste problem. As a sea kayaker on the west coast of Canada, I often spend a week without seeing another person but encounter piles of plastic every day on otherwise pristine coastlines. This firsthand experience has heightened my awareness of the issue,” he continues. 

Solutum resin.“Solutum stands out due to its unique ability to meet diverse market needs while offering environmentally safe end-of-life solutions. Whether in developed areas with excellent waste management or in underdeveloped regions with inadequate waste handling infrastructure, Solutum offers a practical solution that works in real-life situations.”

Down-gauging material 
Friedman asserts the best way to reduce the industry’s footprint is simply to reduce material usage. “Down-gauging material required for packaging — reducing — is the best way to tackle waste: make less.”

”Solutum’s material is easily used on existing machines with current manufacturing processes, allowing converters and others to substitute it into supply chains quickly and making it easily scalable to large volumes,” he says. 

“The material works on existing converter machinery and processes, fitting into the existing plastics supply chain. Moreover, the properties of the material enable manufacturers to reduce the material needed in packaging — the first step and regulatory priority to reducing waste.” 

Critically, the material also caters to many properties that make it widely usable for packaging applications — forming good oil and oxygen barriers (essential for food packaging) and providing strength, which usually results in less material required to achieve needed performance. 

Expanding the market 
Solutum is currently in the market entry stage after completing development of its material and proving its efficacy in various applications with automated machines, Friedman explains. 

“Our current focus is on primary packaging for food that requires excellent oxygen or oil barriers, combined with excellent mechanical properties. Both in flexible plastic packaging and paper-laminated packing. Additionally, we offer a superior product for end-of-line packaging, particularly beneficial in the pharmaceutical industry where multiple primary packages are bundled together,” he says. 

“The main challenge we face is ensuring that the world understands there is a solution readily available — Solutum — and encouraging brands to adopt it. Changing the status quo, even with a superior product, is challenging.”

“The industry often tells me, ‘The best package is the one I am already using.’ We need the opportunity to propose and implement a new packaging that is environmentally superior.”Solutum film.

The company is beginning to achieve this by targeting applications where, aside from environmental benefits, it can offer strong properties that are suitable and scalable for a particular application with minimal capital investment. 

“Legislation that focuses on the problem we are trying to solve and encourages changes by the parties using plastic for packaging is preferable to legislation that mandates specific solutions,” Friedman says. 

“The latter can stifle innovation and often includes loopholes that allow existing products to continue with minor modifications, rather than effectively addressing the underlying problem. Focusing on the core issue encourages companies to seek innovative solutions, like Solutum, that can genuinely improve environmental outcomes.”

“I have spent my life introducing new products that disrupt the ‘old’ way of doing things, from space-based information products to internet products to carbon capture. This experience has taught me how challenging it is to change the status quo, but also how to successfully navigate those challenges.”

By Louis Gore-Langton