Plant-Derived Plastics are quickly becoming a sustainable solution for industries struggling with plastic pollution. With growing environmental concerns around plastic waste and microplastics, industries have experimented with alternatives like recycling, paper straws, and bamboo utensils—but with limited success. However, the debate between environmental protection and plastic use may have found a solution, thanks to PlantSwitch.
PlantSwitch, a startup from North Carolina, has developed a groundbreaking bioplastic technology that turns agricultural waste into a cost-effective, compostable plastic alternative. This innovation mimics the look, feel, flexibility, and performance of traditional plastic, without requiring specialized machinery for molding.
Sustainable, scalable, and ready for mass adoption, PlantSwitch’s Plant-Derived Plastics are now hitting shelves in major retailers, including Costco and Walmart. Notably, Taylor Farms has already partnered with PlantSwitch, replacing the single-use plastic forks in their Chopped Salad Bowls with PlantSwitch’s eco-friendly forks, further advancing the shift toward sustainable solutions.
“By replacing traditional plastic forks with PlantSwitch forks in their new chopped salad bowls, Taylor Farms will replace more than 100,000,000 forks over the next year, which equates to replacing over 880,000lbs of single-use plastic forks.”
“Alternatives to plastic have traditionally failed to deliver on cost, quality, and availability,” shares PlantSwitch CEO and Founder Dillon Baxter. “PlantSwitch was founded with the mission to deliver a plastic alternative that can replace all traditional single-use plastics. To do that, the technology must be low-cost, high performance, and rapidly scalable; and those 3 tenets have guided every decision our development team has made since its inception.”
PlantSwitch has raised a total of $20 Million, to date, with $8 Million coming from NexPoint Capital. “At NexPoint, we are always looking to support companies that do important work and offer attractive opportunities for growth,” says Scott Johnson, Managing Director & Portfolio Manager at NexPoint Capital. “PlantSwitch certainly fits that bill and represents an investment that aligns with our values and expertise in Climate Tech businesses.”
“Major corporations have made commitments to lower their plastic consumption and the toxic waste it produces, but the proper infrastructure to deliver a viable alternative hadn’t previously existed,” continues Baxter. “This latest $8 million raise in partnership with NexPoint is being invested in building out this infrastructure, which will drive the alternative plastics market forward.” In conclusion, Baxter adds, “We believe the infrastructure for compostable bioplastics is critical to the future of our economy, our health, and our planet. That’s why we are on a mission to build it in a way that is scalable and cost competitive.”
