Innovation

WILDPLASTIC®'s core innovation lies in its ability to produce high-quality plastic products, such as bin liners and shipping packaging made entirely from wild plastic. "We're showing that waste, which has basically reached the end of its life cycle, can be turned into recycable products. Plastic is a resource, if handled correctly" (M. Kronemeyer, personal communication, May 16, 2025). Unlike conventional recycled materials, the raw input comes from visible pollution in the environment: sidewalks, illegal landfills, and beaches in regions lacking proper waste infrastructure. The company solves a major technical challenge by transforming this highly heterogeneous and contaminated material into a homogeneous, high-performance product through careful sorting, cleaning, and processing. These products are substantially more sustainable than alternatives made from new plastic or even paper, according to independent life cycle assessments. A second dimension of the innovation is the creation of a transparent, socially responsible, supply chain. The company partners directly with local waste collection organizations, ensuring fair collaboration and compensation. WILDPLASTIC® continues to expand its product portfolio, for example, with potting soil packaging, and collaborates with well-known brands such as OTTO, Hermes, and Borussia Dortmund to bring sustainable materials into the high-plastic-consumption industries.The vision: Each product made from wild plastic represents a win for both the planet and society. As M. Kronemeyer stated (personal communication, May 16, 2025), their products like bin liners, shipping packaging, and even potting soil bags are the first in the world to be made entirely from plastic waste collected from the environment.

Inspiration

Seven co-founders, each of whom had firsthand experience with the global plastic pollution problem, came up with the concept for WILDPLASTIC® out of a sense of urgency. The founding vision was impacted by eye-opening experiences in the Global South, where plastic waste visibly scars the landscape and communities rely on waste collection for survival. "The inspiration came from a shared awareness that plastic pollution is a massive global issue, especially in countries that are the least responsible for it" (M. Kronemeyer, personal communication, May 16, 2025). The idea was straightforward but bold: to design a trash bag that was completely composed of plastic that was gathered straight from the environment. It was obvious from the start that WILDPLASTIC® should be a business that promotes long-term, systemic change while also being financially secure. The goal is to maximize impact rather than profit. "We're aiming to create the biggest possible impact with the simplest products, like a shipping bag, and raise awareness at the same time" (M. Kronemeyer, personal communication, May 16, 2025). Taking responsibility for people and the environment, seeing resources as a part of a circular system, and encouraging cooperation over blame are some of the company's core values. After all, both the plastic crisis and its resolution are global in scope. The difference that WILDPLASTIC® makes is visible on the ground: the development of collection systems, improved working conditions, and fair wages. Encouragement from customers and scientifically validated sustainability continues to motivate the team. With its example, WILDPLASTIC® aims to prove that economic success and social progress are not mutually exclusive, they can actually reinforce each other.

Overall impact

“WILDPLASTIC®'s overall impact extends far beyond waste recycling. It represents a paradigm shift in how plastic is perceived, "not as a problem, but as a potential resource within a circular system” (M. Kronemeyer, personal communication, May 16, 2025).

Customers and other businesses are encouraged to reconsider their impact on sustainability in their own business by the company's open, moral, and purpose-driven organizational structure that leads by example. By setting an ambitious long-term vision, to make itself obsolete in a world where no plastic is left unmanaged, WILDPLASTIC® redefines what it means to scale impact. It exemplifies how mission-driven entrepreneurship can effectively address global challenges with integrity and innovation through quantifiable impact and consistent values.

Business benefit

WILDPLASTIC® offers a compelling business plan that combines environmental responsibility with entrepreneurial success. The company has established a distinct market position for itself by being the first in the world to manufacture commonplace products like shipping envelopes and trash bags using only collected plastic waste. Their approach prioritizes impact-driven growth over profit maximization and concentrates on establishing and preserving solid alliances and collaborations, particularly in the e-commerce industry. Structured as a purpose company with limited external investor influence and reinvest mandate, WILDPLASTIC® fosters transparency, brand credibility, and customer loyalty. Leading companies choose WILDPLASTIC® not just for its products, but for the values it represents. This strategy not only drives revenue, but sets the business apart as a sustainable, future-oriented innovator. “In the end, our goal for the company is to not be needed anymore in the future and to - so to say - be abolished” (M. Kronemeyer, personal communication, May 16, 2025). This also showed how impact driven the company’s identity is in how they make decisions for the business and for the environment simultaneously. 

Social and environmental benefit

The company's main goal is to eliminate plastic waste from the environment while also promoting social justice in areas with limited resources. In developing nations like Ghana, India, and Sierra Leone, they collaborate with waste collection groups to assist in the establishment of waste management systems where none have yet been established. With an emphasis on equitable pay and decent working conditions, these collaborations create a large number of job opportunities. By using circular production methods, WILDPLASTIC® has already drastically decreased CO₂ emissions and removed more than 1,200 tons of plastic from the environment. The company’s model directly supports several UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including climate action (SDG 13), decent work (SDG 8), partnerships for the goals (SDG 17), and responsible production and consumption (SDG 12) by reintroducing used plastic into the economy and lowering the need for new material. “We at WILDPLASTIC® try to prevent the cause instead of only treating the symptoms” (M. Kronemeyer, personal communication, May 16, 2025).

Interview

Marten Kronemeyer, Head of Sales