UBQ’s waste-based thermoplastic offers the industry a secure source of recycled-content feedstock.
TEL AVIV, Israel – August 23, 2022 – UBQ Materials, the climate tech developer of advanced materials made from unsorted waste, including all organics, has announced that its UBQ™ Powder has received the UL Environmental Claim Validation for containing a minimum of 100 percent post-consumer recycled content.
UL, a global safety science leader, holds companies accountable to sustainability claims through independent and objective assessment using its rigorous science-based approach. The UL 2809 certification confirms that UBQ™ Powder is composed entirely of post-consumer recycled content. Companies and manufacturers can substitute oil-based resins with UBQ™ to maximize post-consumer recycled content in products.
It is an important next step for the material. It has already been validated for a variety of use cases. These include reusable packaging-related applications such as plastic pallets and product display stands, shown above. Earlier this year, PepsiCo announced a successful pilot incorporating UBQ™ to reduce the carbon footprint of shipping pallets. PepsiCo expanded on the initial logistics pilot, ordering 30 thousand more plastic pallets made with UBQ™. These pallets also feature recycled PP resin and recycled BOPP – the plastic film used in the company’s snack packaging – to complete the circular economy cycle.
“Our goal is to transform our entire supply chain to tackle the sustainability challenges the world faces. UBQ Materials’ waste-based thermoplastic reduces landfill waste, prevents emissions, and takes us towards circularity, which is why we are working towards scaling use of UBQ™ globally,” David Schwartz, VP, PepsiCo Labs, commented at the time.
In an upcoming Reusable Packaging News interview, Albert Douer, Chairman and Co-CEO of UBQ Materials, explains how just a modest amount of UBQ material incorporated into even a virgin plastic pallet can quickly make it carbon-neutral. Pepsi intends to start buying Lay’s Chips display stands that incorporate UBQ™ as well as conventional oil-based plastics.
European plastics industry groups have aligned themselves with the policy proposal from the European Commission to meet a mandatory minimum of 30% recycled content in plastic packaging by 2030.
“In light of regulations and taxations, global corporations are running against the clock to assess and implement solutions to fulfill ambitious ESG commitments. There is an urgent and growing demand for quality post-consumer recycled content materials that support these goals,” said Douer. “Utilizing unsorted household waste, an abundant and globally available resource, we have a scalable and cost-competitive material that we can confidently supply to the industry today.”
Patented worldwide, UBQ™️ is a climate-positive and bio-based thermoplastic that integrates seamlessly in standard manufacturing processes. UBQ Materials empowers leading brands, including Mercedes-Benz, PepsiCo, and McDonald’s, to reduce the carbon footprint of their end products, maximize recycled content, and preserve finite resources without compromising profitability.
UBQ Materials is on track to expand globally with a large-scale production facility in the Netherlands.
About UBQ Materials
UBQ Materials is a climate tech developer of advanced materials that converts unsorted landfill-destined waste – including organics like food waste, cardboard, and paper together with mixed plastics and dirty diapers – into UBQ™, a sustainable alternative to oil-based resins and other conventional raw materials. The climate-positive and bio-based thermoplastic can be used in thousands of applications and is incorporated seamlessly into standard manufacturing processes, both on its own and as an additive.