1st Prize BIOPOLYMER Award 2024

Cell2Green GmbH (Deutschland)

Innovation: Biodegradable and recyclable cellulose packaging film

It looks like plastic film, but is actually made of cellulose: the bio-based, biodegradable, and recyclable packaging film from Cell2Green GmbH, based in Bad Doberan. The company emerged from successful research projects at the University of Rostock.

Jury statement: A film without any plastic that combines the advantages of plastic and paper

An ultra-thin, completely transparent, and tear-resistant film that contains no plasticizers or other additives, is made exclusively from renewable raw materials or waste, is recyclable, and can be fully biodegraded in soil or water: When Dirk Hollmann joined the University of Rostock in 2018 as head of the "Sustainable Chemistry" junior research group, it still sounded like a specification from a distant future. Five years later, the company Cell2Green, co-founded by Hollmann, set out to make this bold vision a reality with a now-patented process. The Cell2Green film, which can replace plastic packaging in the food sector, among other things, contains no plastic itself. It is made of cellulose.

Unlike many other cellulose production and processing methods, the Cell2Green process, which has so far been tested on a pilot scale, does not require any toxic substances. The start-up, based in Bad Doberan, Mecklenburg, uses waste from sources such as FSC-certified trees or the paper industry, and its chemical-mechanical process preserves the natural structure of cellulose. In addition to customized films for a wide variety of applications, the company offers customers from numerous industries the opportunity to save costs through CO2 certificates. The jury awarded first prize to this innovation, which was implemented with military precision by a small, highly professional team. The fact that the film cannot be welded, unlike its plastic counterparts, is not seen as a disadvantage by the jurors, but rather recommends that the new main prize winner collaborate with the TITK (Technical Institute for Applied Sciences and Technology) in Rudolstadt, which won last year's competition with its bio-based, biodegradable adhesive Caremelt.

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