Mensch und Umwelt

A sink strainer in the kitchen. A stroller wheel on the sidewalk. A table tennis paddle at the local club. Things we use every day — and that now demonstrate how the circular economy is becoming part of everyday life. This is made possible through an international cooperation in which Business Upper Austria has played a key role.

At the center is Plastrans Technologies from Linz. The company trades polymer raw materials globally and supplies customers in more than 25 countries.

“We are always open to innovation. Anyone who wants to transform cannot remain stuck in the past. That is why a company profile in the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) immediately caught our attention. The combination of elasticity and biodegradability is something new in the world of biodegradable materials,” explains Rudi Eswein, Director of Sustainability at Plastrans.

The First Contact

Companies seeking partners can publish their profile anonymously on the EEN marketplace. Interested businesses can reach out, and regional EEN partner offices establish the connection. The profile discovered by Eswein belonged to the Swiss company KUORI, a start-up with ten employees. It develops and distributes circular materials containing food waste such as banana peels or nutshells.

The first meeting took place at FAKUMA 2024. “A collaboration emerged from this, and it continues to work successfully to this day,” says Eswein.

An Ecosystem for Tomorrow

Elastic materials are often considered durable but hardly biodegradable. Plastrans and KUORI are taking a different approach. They specifically control hardness levels and mix in bio-based ingredients such as olive pit powder or starch. The foundation is the BIOWA material platform, where interaction with other components is tailored to the intended application.

“This enables us to create rapidly biodegradable or water-soluble materials, as well as long-lasting, robust compounds for shoe outsoles,” explains Eswein. The latter degrade under natural conditions when shredded or worn away from the surface.

The materials are processed through extrusion and injection molding, making them fully recyclable. Plastrans supplies formulation components, while KUORI contributes process and product expertise. Both companies open their networks to one another. This reduces costs, enables further partnerships, and creates room for new applications.

A Partnership of Possibilities

“We give our partners room to make decisions and support them in the process,” explains Rudi Eswein. “In practical terms, this involves our broad materials portfolio of conventional materials, nearly all commercially available bio-polymers, compounds, recyclates, and ISCC+-certified polyolefins. Combined with the capabilities of our partners, this creates a playground for creativity. This is not about a single material, but rather a wide range of possibilities.”

From Sanitary Products to Sports

The first pilot products based on KUORI compounds demonstrate the wide range of possibilities: a table tennis paddle rubber that supports ball spin, 3D-printing filaments, and shoe soles — all incorporating agricultural by-products such as olive pits, walnut shells, or residual starch.

In the sanitary market, a sink strainer made from KUORI’s material blend and Plastrans raw material components is already available in small-scale production.