The mission of the East Westphalian start-up Wax Solutions from Versmold, which was founded in May 2023, is to replace petroleum-based plastics. The idea is being realised by replacing plastics in paper coatings with renewable raw materials. A state and EU-funded project is now set to bring the coating solution developed for food packaging to market maturity. The NRW.Europa team helped the new member of the ZENIT e.V. network to acquire funding from the ERDF Green Start-ups.NRW competition.

The start-up was created as an independent spin-off of the Versmold-based sausage industry supplier Alfred Willich Produktions GmbH. The foundation was preceded by a product developed jointly with the paper industry for coating packaging paper, which replaces plastic components in paper packaging. Such paper packaging ranges from wrapping paper at the service counter to baking powder bags and shipping cartons. ‘Many people don't realise that paper packaging usually contains plastic coatings. So-called composite materials often create challenges when it comes to recycling and can often only be thermally recycled - i.e. incinerated,’ explains Dr Kasper van der Zwan, Innovation Manager at the start-up. ‘We are developing solutions that do not require petroleum-based components and can be used by industry without adapting their usual processes. We think about recycling right from the start. This is how we replace plastics and work sustainably.’

Natural waxes and other non-fossil raw materials are used as materials. The Versmold-based company wants to develop customised coatings that are adapted to the respective requirements and protect the paper against influences such as grease, water or water vapour. An important requirement for all developments is the recyclability of the coated paper in order to keep the paper fibres in the recycling loop for as long as possible.

Support from the Enterprise Europe Network
The start-up contacted the EEN-partners of ZENIT in autumn 2023 to find out about funding and support for the innovation. The funding experts from the NRW.Europa team were able to help place a positively assessed funding application in the ‘Grüne Gründungen.NRW’ programme of the Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Transport of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. The consultation primarily focussed on content-related issues, but also on funding law issues. Other alternative programmes were also discussed.

Wax Solutions will use the project entitled ‘BaWaFlex: Testing a sealable, flexible barrier coating based on natural waxes and resins for food packaging’, among other things, to set up a pilot plant for the production of the coatings and to test them in large-scale trials on paper and cardboard together with various customers and subsequently adapt them to the market. The construction of the first production plant is currently underway.

The start-up also benefited from NRW.Europa's support through its presence at the NRW.Europa team's stand at Anuga FoodTec in spring 2024, where it was able to present itself to an international trade audience and make important contacts.

‘We are very pleased to be able to expand our development with this funding. The support from the NRW.Europa team at ZENIT has helped us a lot,’ says Dr Kasper van der Zwan, who is responsible for research and development as Innovation Manager. ‘The funding also accelerates our scaling in order to be able to produce industrial quantities in line with the market.’

Contact the NRW.Europa team:
Benno Weißner
ZENIT GmbH / Enterprise Europe Network
for North Rhine-Westphalia NRW.Europa
Telephone: 0208 30004-59
E-mail: Benno.Weissner@zenit.eu

Contact to the Company:
Wax Solution GmbH: https://wax.solutions/

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