Traceless Materials–Germany (govt): grant, 202305– BMUV funding €5.1m for construction of demonstration plant

	Period	2023-05-19
	Money taker	Traceless Materials GmbH
	Money source	BMUV (Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection) (DE)
	Group	Germany (govt)
	Product	traceless® biomaterial
	Product 2	business development (state/region)
	Person	Hoffmann, Bettina (Germany (govt) 202305 Parliamentary State Secretary at BMUV)

Traceless Materials GmbH. (5/17/23). "Press Release: Bioeconomy Startup Traceless Receives Millions in Funding from the German Federal Ministry for the Environment".

> Planned construction of a demonstration production plant receives 5 million euros in funding

> Parliamentary State Secretary Bettina Hoffmann presents funding check to founders

The bioeconomy startup traceless has developed a nature-based, sustainable alternative to plastic. The compostable biomaterial traceless® is based on plant residues of industrial grain processing. To implement the innovative technology for the first time on an industrial scale, the company is planning to build a demonstration plant in Hamburg. The aim is to substitute several thousand metric tons of conventional plastic each year, thus saving a considerable amount of CO2 emissions, fossil resources, water and agricultural land.

The project is being funded with around 5 million Euros from the Environmental Innovation Program (Umweltinnovationsprogramm) of the German Federal Environment Ministry (BMUV). Today, Parliamentary State Secretary Dr. Bettina Hoffmann handed over the funding check to the two female founders. In her statement, Hoffmann acknowledged the great potential of the project, and the outstanding benefit for the environment and for Germany as an industrial location.

Plastics are at the center of the ecological challenges of our time. Not only do they leave behind the visible traces of global plastic pollution, their costly production from fossil resources also contributes significantly to the climate crisis. As part of a circular, sustainable economy, the bioeconomy offers a solution: Instead of fossil resources, renewable raw materials are used and processed into biobased products using environmentally friendly processes.

The startup traceless materials GmbH has developed a novel bioeconomy technology: Based on plant leftovers from industrial grain processing, they produce a natural biomaterial as an alternative to plastic. The traceless® material is completely bio-based, home-compostable and plastic-free. By using plant leftovers, valuable biomass resources are preserved. The patent-pending technology is based on natural polymers, comes without potentially harmful substances and has a minimal environmental footprint: compared to plastic, 91% of CO2 emissions and 89% of fossil energy demand is saved during production and disposal.

The company produces traceless® materials in the form of a granulate that can be further processed using standard technologies in the plastics and packaging industry. Thus, the material can be used in a wide range of end products - from rigid molded parts and flexible films to paper coatings or adhesives.

Founded in 2020, the company has already implemented the technology on a pilot scale. With the aim of replacing plastics in large quantities soon, production capacities will be expanded to industrial scale. The planned plant will demonstrate for the first time that the innovative process can be implemented on an industrial scale. In parallel with the technology scale-up, the team of over 30 team members is developing pilot products made from traceless® materials with its customers and partners. Due to its innovative solution, the company is receiving funding from the EU as part of the EIC Accelerator. In addition, it has already received numerous awards, including the German Entrepreneur Award and the German Sustainability Award/Next Economy Award.

ABOUT TRACELESS

The bioeconomy start-up traceless materials GmbH was founded in 2020 by Anne Lamp and Johanna Baare in Hamburg. The mission: to contribute to a regenerative, climate-friendly economy and a future free of plastic pollution. With their innovative technology, the company turns agricultural industry plant leftovers into natural biomaterials that are bio-based, home compostable, plastic-free and have a minimal ecological footprint. To realize the ecological potential, the technology is being scaled up from pilot scale to industrial scale.

ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENTAL INNOVATION PROGRAMME (UIP)

The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection funds industrial-scale pilot projects in key environmental sectors such as climate protection and resource efficiency. These projects show how innovative technologies can be implemented to help to reduce and prevent harm to the environment. The so-called Environmental Innovation Programme (Umweltinnovationsprogramm / UIP) focuses on projects that are well suited for demonstration purposes and hence for replication. The projects also lead to further refinement both of the technologies involved and of the environmental regulatory framework. Small and medium-sized businesses receive priority funding.

More Information to the funding scheme and the project under: http://www.umweltinnovationsprogramm.de/projekte

PRESS INFO TRACELESS

Press contact:
Isabel Thoma (DE), isabel@traceless.eu, +49 178 148 0777 /
Ritva Krist (EN), ritva@traceless.eu, +31 6 134 98 115