SymbioTex’s mission is to create sustainable materials for the medical sector, and beyond!

Since 2011, 73 million inhalers have been distributed in the UK and only 1.3% of these have ever been recycled – even then they still utilise non-renewable materials and have to be landfilled after 4 recycling cycles. Landfilling of class 1 medical devices, such as inhalers,  leads to the creation of microplastics! So why should medical devices meant to help our health be detrimental to the environment and us? SymbioTex’s mission is to change this by creating sustainable materials for the medical sector, to reduce the environmental impact of medical devices, whilst looking after the health and well-being of consumers. SymbioTex uses one of the world’s fastest growing organisms -seaweed- which naturally sequesters carbon as it grows. Seaweed does not create harmful by-products upon disposal – in fact as seaweed it is a natural fertiliser it is actually beneficial to the environment! SymbioTex’s material can be processed using industry standard 3D printing or injection moulding- but at lower temperatures than plastic. This offers a seamless plug and play solution to plastics manufacturers who can replace their current fossil fuel based plastic pellets with our biobased home compostable pellets.  SymbioTex’s plug and play solution offers immense versatility and scalability- and thus they are not limited to just the medical sector; although this is their passion. The NHS has a net zero target of 2045, however over 60% of the NHS’ carbon footprint comes from its supply chain – our solution provides both the tier 1 pharmaceutical manufactures in this chain and the NHS with a feasible and sustainable solutions. Our objective is to use our innovative solutions to create partnerships where everyone involved succeeds in reaching sustainability goals. We are currently working with: Medical: Medilink, AHSN, Haughton Design, Amies Innovation, NHS Trusts, Greener NHS. Non- medical: 2M, DS Smith, M&S, P&G, Ishga, Nestle, Tarmac. Our CEO recently won the young entrepreneurs challenge 2023 and we are looking forward to speaking at the Global Research and Innovation in Plastics Sustainability (May 2023). Unlike current bioplastics- SymbioTex does not utilise any non-renewable materials, SymbioTex does not compete with land used for crops, and SymbioTex materials are truly compostable! SymbioTex’s patent for rigid bioplastics made from seaweed has been submitted, and they have successfully produced prototypes and secured letters of intent. By the end of May SymbioTex will have undertaken 2 large pilots, they have a technical data sheet (on a range of formulations from flexibles to rigids) ready to share with interested parties and prospective clients.  They look to go to market with our material by the end of this year, and with class 1 medical devices in Q2 of 2024!