Science and Technology Daily Tel Aviv, February 18 (reporter Mali) Israel W-Cycle company successfully developed the use of bagasse as a raw material of natural environmental protection, replacing crystalline polyethylene terephthalate (C-PET) plastic to produce ready-to-eat food packaging boxes, greatly reducing environmental pollution.

Plastic products are ubiquitous in human society, and they are widely used in the manufacture of polyester clothing, outdoor furniture and food containers. Data show that in 2018 alone, about 360 million tons of plastic were produced globally, and consumption is still growing rapidly. At the same time, more than 90% of plastic products end up in landfills or the natural environment, where it takes more than 400 years to decompose in the ocean and 1,000 years in landfills.

Israeli entrepreneurs Joseph Siani and Lyle Itai founded the startup W-Cycle based on their decades of experience in the packaging and high-tech industries. Together, they are developing new packaging solutions to address the use of C-PET plastic in the vast ready-to-eat food packaging industry.

In their search for environmentally friendly materials, they turned their attention to the sugar cane bagasse used in the sugar industry after the sugar is removed. After four years of research and development, they obtained an environmentally friendly material based on bagasse that can withstand temperatures from -40 бу C to 250 бу C. What's more, it has the necessary lyophobic properties of food packaging materials (no oil or water), and the boxes produced from it can be thrown away as organic waste after use, or recycled together with paper.

Itai says its patented SupraPulp product is made from 100% natural materials and does not emit any toxins or contain heavy metals. He stressed that the new packaging material based on the by-product of sucrose production has advantages over existing green and environmentally friendly packaging materials, as biodegradable materials based on corn starch require raw material production, while other cellulose-based packaging materials usually require a plastic film to prevent moisture absorption.

Currently, W-Cycle has announced a partnership with Neto, a major Israeli food group, and is also in advanced discussions with ready-to-eat food producers as well as major airline catering companies in Europe and the Far East. Other target markets include large institutions that need to distribute large quantities of meals in single-use packaging, such as hospitals, prisons and schools.

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