“Biodolomer can be a game changer in plastic pollution from the animal feed industry”

Arie Wilbers has worked with packaging and animal feeds his entire life, with a strong focus on sustainability in recent years. After testing various materials and solutions, he has come to the conclusion that we need to move away from conventional plastic altogether.

“Recycling is not the solution. We need to move to new materials.”

In his previous work for animal feed giant Nutreco, Arie Wilbers was responsible for Sales and Operations including developing sustainable business practices in Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean. One of the major issues was packaging: millions of plastic bags in countries with little or no recycling infrastructure, resulting in massive pollution.

“In many parts of the world, animal feed is sold in bulk,” Wilbers says. “Transferred from trucks directly into storage silos at farms or facilities.

But in these regions, most farms are small-scale operations that do not have the means to build such facilities. They rely on feed being delivered and stored in bags or sacks.”

In humid and warm climates, paper is not the best an option. To these markets,  millions of plastic bags are being sold every year. This creates problems in many ways, especially as many of these countries lack functioning recycling systems. The bags are either incinerated or dumped in landfills. But in the long run, the absence of such systems does not have to be a disadvantage, as it creates incentives for finding new solutions.

“Many countries in these regions have chosen to ban single-use plastic for most applications, as they have realized that recycling simply does not work. And they have other, more pressing infrastructure challenges to deal with.”

On a global scale, only about 9% of all plastic is recycled, and in developing countries the proportion is even lower. Many people have also started to call it “down-cycling,” as a certain amount of plastic is lost in each cycle — turning into microplastics that contaminate every corner of the planet and every living creature on it.

“The paradox is that this may put them at the forefront of more sustainable practices — such as using truly biodegradable materials.”

Compostable and microplastic-free

During his work at Nutreco, Arie Wilbers discovered Biodolomer from Gaia Biomaterials in Sweden — a limestone-based material that is 100% compostable, free from microplastics and PFAS, and which, when incinerated, generates about 80% less CO₂ than conventional plastic.

“We tested it thoroughly, in different production locations and countries, and it had all the qualities of conventional plastic while still being fully biodegradable. When composted, it actually adds minerals to the soil! It also works in all standard production chains with very little adjustment.”

“One is often a little reluctant when something sounds ‘too good to be true’, but in this case everything was exactly as promised.”

“Imagine being able to prevent thousands of tons of plastic from polluting the environment every year — just in the animal feed sector. And what if we consider grocery bags, bottles, agricultural films… the list is endless.”

Wilbers became so fascinated by Biodolomer that after his retirement this year he began helping other companies and countries looking for new ways to address the plastic pollution problem.

“I know the questions everyone has and the goals they want to achieve. And it’s fantastic to be able to present a material that allows so many to be part of the solution — not the problem.”