Long before the circular economy was a commonly discussed idea, Cellucomp were looking into resource recovery. Eric and fellow founder Dr David Hepworth started thinking about where they could source cellulose from. What sort of waste products could they utilise? “The circular business model has been at the core. We’ve always tried to take waste or co-product streams and help move them up the value chain,” says Eric.
Paper from wood may seem like an obvious choice – but as the process of breaking it down is quite heavy, it wasn’t the most energy-efficient way to go. Plus, there’s not as much waste pulp from paper as there once was due to declining print-based businesses.
Vegetables, on the other hand, were a rich area. “From the farming chain right up to the consumer – waste products [are created] from vegetable processing,” says Eric.
Think wonky vegetables that get left behind. Vegetables chopped incorrectly on the production line. Or even vegetables that might have fallen onto the factory floor. “We knew there was a supply there,” Eric continues, “so there was logic in what we were doing.”