Sprint 4: Biobased transition

For this sprint, our group took our idea from sprint 3, our bioplastic packaging company that produced an alternative to plastic packaging using seaweed and looked at how it could contribute to the transition from the current fossil-based industry and society to a biobased economy.

To clarify a little, our explanation of what the biobased transition is goes a little bit like this:

“Bio based transition is the movement to make non-food products out of biological resources. A few examples for biobased products are biobased bottles and biobased coffee cups. Through this biobased transition you create less plastic waste and fewer waste streams. This has a positive impact on people and the environment.”

Through this transition, we want to improve the system by reducing the need in plastic, bringing innovation to an industry that has stagnated in its ways for decades, innovation means change which means moving forward and giving potential to improvement. We also want to improve ourselves within this system, producing seaweed-based packaging means we become a frontrunner in the industry, not only is this good financially for us, but it also gives us the opportunity to educate and inform, as well as bring change to the system. We want to improve the way in which the lifecycle of packaging is seen, the end of the current packaging’ s lifecycle is to be burnt, disposed in waste piles, or worse, to end in our oceans, where it devastates marine life. We want to change this end of lifecycle, by ensuring that it is in harmony with nature’ s lifecycles and does not pollute in any way once it reaches its’ end of life. Seaweed packaging allows for this. Reducing plastic use means an improvement for people and their environment. Finally, on an economical point of view, we want to ensure that packaging does not increase in price, and affect consumer buying power. Oil becoming more and more scarce, prices are getting higher and soon will skyrocket. This will affect the price of petrol-based products, notably packaging. We want to tackle this by ending the dependency on petrol for packaging.

But why would you want this transition (and why might you not)? Here is our take on these questions:

Pros:

-       Less plastic needed, so less plastic waste

-       Less plastic waste = Positive impact on the environment!

-       Biological resources are renewable (seaweed) so we will never run out of them

-       We are creating extra revenue for seaweed farmers, and creating new jobs

Cons: 

-       Unfortunately, currently, making biobased products is more expensive than fossil-based ones

-       There can be some food safety or regulation issues as the packaging is made of seaweed

-       Seaweed is also less stable than fossil-based packaging

-       Making seaweed packaging is more complex than fossil based (for now at least)

Now that this was made clear, we had to see exactly how we would contribute to this transition. First of all, we needed to see who would be involved in this, in other words who our stakeholders were. We used the levels of transition management technique to evaluate this:

The landscape level: is determined by public opinion, media, science and social debate. For us this was:

-       Seaweed farmers

o   China, S. Korea, Indonesia and the Philippines

o   30 million tons of seaweed produced globally

o   GreenWave

-       Packaging producers

The middle level regime: the dynamic balance between governments, companies, institutions, and science. For us this was:

-       U.N. asking for greener rules 

-       EU ban on throwaway plastics by 2021 

-       Policies to stimulate market demand 

In the bottom level nicheare: technological innovations, start-ups, and small networks of actors who share and support new ideas and methods. For us this was:

-       EvoWare

-       Golfkarton

-       Green Serendipity

Next a critical question came to us.  Are we doing things better? Or are we actually doing better things? We figured that we were doing better things. After all, isn’t that what transition is about?Slowly the way of doing things changes, so things aren’t done better but different. Things are improving, whilst they are done in a different way. So; doing better things. Here are two different scenarios for each question that we figured:

• Doing things better: Avoiding plastic waste is no better than separating, so bring your own bags and bags with you to the store.

• Better things: When purchasing a plastic packed product, a contribution is made to the Packaging Waste Fund.

So overall, how do we see our company contributing to this transition?

- Reducing the use and production of plastics

- Changing the global mindset around waste (plastics and packaging)

- Proposing a viable model for other companies to follow

- Changing the typical lifecycle of packaging to a more efficient one

- Redefining what packaging entails

- Create new market as well as a possibility for existing market to transition (seaweed producers, logistics, etc.)

So now that we have covered how the transition will occur from our point of view, what remains to be asked is what’s next? Once this transition has occurred what will the future look like? We envisioned 4 different possibilities, which we laid down for you just below:

Future scenarios of Sea-Weed based packaging:

1.    A future without plastic 

a.    Oil based plastic is banned 

b.    There is a sustainable solution of getting rid of the oil-based plastic

c.     All packaging/ plastic bottles etc. is replaced by biobased, plant-based materials 

d.    Everything is being re-used 

2.     A future without biobased packaging

a.    Plant based packaging is still a niche 

b.    The oil-based packaging is still leading 

c.     Government isn’t doing much 

d.    Climate change is not a big topic 

3.     A future without packaging 

a.    All packaging is banned

b.    You buy everything without packaging and you take it home in reused pots etc. 

c.     You almost have no trash 

d.    People shop way more sufficient

4.     A future in which biobased plastic and oil-based plastic go hand in hand 

a.    It will take way too much time to change from oil-based plastic to biobased plastic

b.    That is why it will go hand in hand. 

c.     Packaging will be a combination of both

d.    Where it is possible it will be 100% plant based 

Above is a matrix we drew to show the different scenarios that could occur, depending on a global or local outlook, and whether this was in a Biobased or fossil based scenario.

So, there you are, how we envision our world to transition to a better future, and how our company and each one of us can contribute to it! Together let’s transition to a brighter future!

Sprint 3: A Sea-Weed based packaging

For this sprint we created a business that was related to the current consumers need.
We started with looking at environmental problems globally, and what kind of problem stands close to the human being. During this search we found that the ocean is a big topic nowadays. People are starting groups to clean up the beaches, and the biggest ocean clean up project has been launched.
We watched this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IA9O9YUbQew) from WWF about plastic pollution and that was the final touch to create our product!

If you want to create a new product, you should always start by making a business plan. This can be done by for example a business model canvas. We created our own business model canvas which can be found in image 1!

Image 1: Business Model Canvas

Within this business model canvas you can find everything we need to start the business. Our resources, our activities, the key partners, our markets and customers. By creating the business model canvas we can show ourselves what is needed and what our goal is!

If we want to zoom in on our customer we take the value proposition and the market & customer segments and we create a value proposition canvas found in image 2.

Image 2: Value Proposition Canvas

We look at our customer, for which we take ekoplaza as an example. The gain for ekoplaza, if they buy our product, is the reduction of plastic packaging within their shop, with a goal to meet the consumers demand, and they are selling healthy and ecological packaging. The pain of sea-weed based packaging is the food safety regulations. To relieve this pain, you use it for packaging within packaging. For example the noodles that have a a packaging with herbs and oil within the noodles packaging can be replaced with the sea-weed based package.

The costs for our idea are not worked out yet but we will focus on the people that will work in the company, production and the supply chain, the product and the prices, the marketing and the sales and distribution.

Image 3: costs

And now one of the most important things, how will you sell your story?
That can be done by using the Golden Circle. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNqKZybIdv4 within this youtube video Simon Sinek explains in a detailed and easy way how to use the Golden Circle to create a perfect selling story.

Image 4: The Golden Circle 

WHY do we want to make a packaging of sea-weed?

Video 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IA9O9YUbQew

HOW do we want to achieve it?

"If we can produce plastic from seaweed on a large scale this would mean using fewer fossil fuels and freeing up valuable agricultural land for food production". 

• creating packaging that replaces plastic
• keeping or improving the quality of there placement 
• ensuring that the life cycle of the product isn't polluting at any point 
• listening to what the  customer wants 

WHAT is our product? 

Sea-Weed based packaging! 

Image 5: Sea-Weed packaging 

The product has the following characteristics: 

• it dissolves in warm water, making it a zero waste product
• 100% biodegradable and works as a natural fertilizer for plants
• it has 2 years of shelf life, even without preservative 
• nutritious, contains high fiber, vitamins and minerals 
• can be customized to give specific taste, color and brand logo
• printable and heat sealable 

Image 6: Sea-Weed packaging

What stakeholders will be important for us, and which won't be? That can be found within our stakeholder analysis. 

Image 7: Stakeholder analysis

Within these two weeks we created a bio based, innovative solution for a global issue. The sea-weed based product may not be within the supermarket shells within one year, but it is a smart, sustainable and healthy solution to a really big problem within this world. 

Sprint 3: Sea-Weed based packaging

For this sprint we created a business that was related to the current consumers need.
We started with looking at environmental problems globally, and what kind of problem stands close to the human being. During this search we found that the ocean is a big topic nowadays. People are starting groups to clean up the beaches, and the biggest ocean clean up project has been launched.
We watched this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IA9O9YUbQew) from WWF about plastic pollution and that was the final touch to create our product!

If you want to create a new product, you should always start by making a business plan. This can be done by for example a business model canvas. We created our own business model canvas which can be found in image 1!

Image 1: Business Model Canvas 

Within this business model canvas you can find everything we need to start the business. Our resources, our activities, the key partners, our markets and customers. By creating the business model canvas we can show ourselves what is needed and what our goal is!

If we want to zoom in on our customer we take the value proposition and the market & customer segments and we create a value proposition canvas found in image 2.

Image 2: Value Proposition Canvas

We look at our customer, for which we take ekoplaza as an example. The gain for ekoplaza, if they buy our product, is the reduction of plastic packaging within their shop, with a goal to meet the consumers demand, and they are selling healthy and ecological packaging. The pain of sea-weed based packaging is the food safety regulations. To relieve this pain, you use it for packaging within packaging. For example the noodles that have a a packaging with herbs and oil within the noodles packaging can be replaced with the sea-weed based package.

The costs for our idea are not worked out yet but we will focus on the people that will work in the company, production and the supply chain, the product and the prices, the marketing and the sales and distribution.

Image 3: Costs 

And now one of the most important things, how will you sell your story?
That can be done by using the Golden Circle. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNqKZybIdv4 within this youtube video Simon Sinek explains in a detailed and easy way how to use the Golden Circle to create a perfect selling story.

Image 4: the Golden Circle 

WHY do we want to make a packaging of sea-weed?

Movie 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IA9O9YUbQew

HOW do we want to achieve it?

"If we can produce plastic from seaweed on a large scale this would mean using fewer fossil fuels and freeing up valuable agricultural land for food production". 

• creating packaging that replaces plastic
• keeping or improving the quality of there placement 
• ensuring that the life cycle of the product isn't polluting at any point 
• listening to what the  customer wants 

WHAT is our product? 

Sea-Weed based packaging! 

The product has the following characteristics:

image 5: packaging

• it dissolves in warm water, making it a zero waste product
• 100% biodegradable and works as a natural fertilizer for plants
• it has 2 years of shelf life, even without preservative 
• nutritious, contains high fiber, vitamins and minerals 
• can be customized to give specific taste, color and brand logo
• printable and heat sealable  

image 6: packaging

What stakeholders will be important for us, and which won't be? That can be found within our stakeholder analysis. 

Within these two weeks we created a bio based, innovative solution for a global issue. The sea-weed based product may not be within the supermarket shells within one year, but it is a smart, sustainable and healthy solution to a really big problem within this world. 

Sprint 2: Producing Bioethanol out of Brewer's spent grains

Beer Brewery’s waste 

The Beer Brewery’s waste, spent grain, also known as ‘Bierborstel’ in Dutch comes from the Brewing facility at the HAS University of Applied Sciences. After the beer is brewed you are left with a solid residue consisting of exhausted grain husks, from which the carbohydrates are already used. The spent grain is rich in water and has a dry matter of 22%. Spent grain is used a lot in animal feed because it contains a high protein content. 

Brewer’s spent grain is mostly used for animal feed. But is it possible to use it for much more? Why couldn’t it be used as a biofuel? That is why we thought of producing bio ethanol from brewer’s spent grain. Bio ethanol is mostly produced by the sugar fermentation process. It is a clear colourless liquid, it is biodegradable, low in toxicity and causes little environmental pollution. 

You can name a number of benefits for bio ethanol in comparison to conventional fuels. First of all, it comes from a renewable resource, for example a crop or a bio-based waste product. Secondly, transport on roads counts for 22% of all greenhouse gas emissions. But through the use of bioethanol, some of these emissions can be lowered. Thirdly, you can mix bioethanol with petrol which creates a more environmentally friendly fuel for transport. Through this, you can slowly transform the fossil-based economy into a bio-based economy. 

Producing Bioethanol 

The last two weeks we spent a lot of time in the ‘milieuhal’, also called the lab. Within this time period, we tried to make bioethanol out of brewer’s spent grain. We used two different methods. One using enzymes and one without the use of enzymes. We chose to do one process without enzymes, because it takes less time, so that we could also distillate it. 

Within the next two vlogs we show you our processes. 

1.     Enzymatic process

Here you can find the mass balance. It shows all the inputs used for the enzymatic process to make bio ethanol. 

Here you can find the total electricity input of 108.75 kWh. Explained here under is the electricity input step per step. 

 Starch fermentation 

We chose to do two different methods so that we could also try out distillation. In the end we had bioethanol with an alcohol content of 13%! It is not that much, but if it is done in a professional way it is possible to create a higher alcohol level. 

Making bioethanol out of brewer's spent grain is not very efficient, because bioethanol is made out of sugars, and most of the sugars are already taken out of the spent grains during the beer brewing process. Still we wanted to try it out due to it's interesting process, which creates a great learning opportunity.