Meatless food and plastic-free packaging trends are driving innovations in Asia Pacific, according to Robert Luo, the Co-founder of Mi Terro, a US-based synthetic biology and advanced material firm that made its name “turning spoiled milk into t-shirts”.
“We see a growing number of food companies and consumers are switching from meat to plant-based or cell-based food. Another trend driving innovation is in the sustainable packaging industry where conventional plastic is being replaced by more eco-friendly solutions,” he said in an interview with TechNode Global. “Sustainable practices are unquestionably the only ways we should live our lives.”
Founded in 2018, Mi Terro said it is redefining the circular economy in which agricultural waste is upcycled and engineered to replace plastic in the food, packaging, and fashion industries. The Los Angeles-based firm creates sustainable and durable flexible packaging materials. It envisions packaging that can be returned back to nature after it is used, leaving no harm to the environment. Its films are home compostable, ocean degradable, and three to five times cheaper than other bio-based materials. The company also claimed to be the world’s first advanced material company that creates ocean degradable and home compostable biomaterials made from agricultural waste.
Luo, who is also the chief executive officer of Mi Terro, said the firm is partnering with multinational consumer goods company Unilever to develop the world’s first 100 percent bio-based water-soluble laundry pod.
Luo, a three-time entrepreneur, has many years of experience in business development, marketing, and sales. He is also an Entrepreneur Hall of Fame at the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business, a recipient of “25 Under 25” by Social Entrepreneur Magazine, a recipient of the All America Chinese Youth Federation “Top 30 Under 30”, a GreenBiz “30 Under 30” honoree, an Eco-Business A-List Youth Honoree, a 2020 APEC Voice of the Future honoree, a SOCAP – Social Capital Markets 2020 Game-Changing Founders of Color, IFSA “25 under 25,” Global Shaker’s Sustainable Fashion Innovator 2019, and Top 100 Asian American Emerging Leaders by theboadiQ.
The company is a winner for Startup Awards – GreenTech & SustainableTech category at the ORIGIN Innovation Awards 2021.
In the interview, Luo also shared what are the challenges faced by businesses in the context of sustainability and his firm’s strategies to overcome these challenges:
What are the trends driving innovation in the Asia Pacific region today? How relevant are sustainable practices in the context of these trends?
Two trends: meatless food and plastic-free packaging. We see a growing number of food companies and consumers are switching from meat to plant-based/cell-based food. Another driving innovation is in the sustainable packaging industry where conventional plastic is being replaced by more eco-friendly solutions. Sustainable practices are unquestionably the only ways we should live our lives.
What are three key challenges that businesses face in the context of sustainability?
Cost, scalability, and market adoption
Kindly share your company’s strategies in addressing such challenges or enabling your partners to navigate these?
Mi Terro is a synthetic biology and advanced material company that powers big data to create home compostable, plastic-alternative biomaterials made from plant-based agricultural waste – this is a first-of-its-kind approach. We are excited to see such a significant leap forward in our ability to manipulate nature’s most diverse and abundant building blocks.
How do you define impact? What would you describe as “success” in your field or area of interest?
Impact involves food waste reduction and plastic replacement. The more carbon we can reduce from the atmosphere, the better our work contributes to the environment. Our goal is to reduce 268 million tons of carbon dioxide in the next decade.
Can you share some interesting data or case studies from your portfolio or partners that are a good example of how technology can bring about impactful change amid today’s business environment?
We are partnering with Unilever to develop the world’s first 100 percent bio-based water-soluble laundry pod. Currently, an estimated 50 million tons of Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and 70 million tons of thin plastic film are produced every year.
We plan to replace 20 percent of the world’s total PVA and 15 percent of the total plastic thin film in the next 10 years. Since the estimated carbon footprint of PVA is 8.2 CO2/ton and the plastic thin film is 8.28 CO2/ton, we will reduce an additional 168.94 million tons of CO2.
Feature photo credit: Mi Terro