For five years now, the French company Schoolab, based in San Francisco and specializing in innovation consulting, has been participating in the collaborative program called ” Deplastify the Planet “, In conjunction with the University of Berkeley, the initiative aims to connect students and businesses to find innovative solutions to the plastic crisis. “A good way to solve problems is to submit them to people from diverse backgrounds and benefit from a form of collective intelligence,” explains Mathieu Aguesse, The CEO of Schoolab San Francisco. We had already tested this kind of collaboration in France, so when we moved to the United States in 2018, it was obvious to us to try to set up a program of this type.”
170 projects in five years
It is quite natural that the idea of plastic comes to mind: “We wanted an original idea, which would respond both to a problem encountered by our customers and to the values that we defend: ethical innovation, sustainable development”. Plastic, a material that has become omnipresent, emblematic of the challenges linked to the ecological transition faced by many manufacturers.
Mathieu Aguesse therefore supervises around fifty students from the University of Berkeley every semester to put an end to this scourge and find avant-garde and sustainable alternatives. “The course attracts students from all backgrounds: engineering of course, but also business, social sciences and even anthropology. That’s the richness of this program.” Since its launch, “Deplastify the Planet” has included more than 170 projects, carried out with groups such as Danone, Nestlé and Samsung.
Innovation and economic viability
One of the greatest successes is the collaboration with the automotive equipment manufacturer Faurecia, around the concept of a plastic-free car. In particular, it will have made it possible to replace the plastic present in the interior of the doors with a natural fiber, biosourced in Mexico, but also to reduce the supply chain thanks to a sector closer to the United States.
As proof of the quality of the program, the Forvia group (to which Faurecia belongs) has since launched its own subsidiary dedicated to the production and marketing of sustainable materials, Materi’act.
Another fruitful cooperation is with the brands Method and Whole Foods Market. The challenge: to develop compostable packaging for the household products brand using waste generated by the supermarket chain. The solution developed by 3 students: to transform unsold food and packaging cardboard into a compostable bioplastic, PHA. The result? 100% compostable packaging that, in addition to being good for the planet, reduces manufacturing costs by around 45%.
“Today, one of the main obstacles for manufacturers is the cost of producing bioplastics. By integrating the principles of the circular economy, such as the reuse of materials already available, we can reduce these costs.”as Mathieu Aguesse points out: “Deplastify the Planet allows us to find innovative solutions, but which also have an economic reality.”
Building on these successes, the French entrepreneur is now trying to develop the program with other universities on the East Coast. “We have just launched a collaboration with Columbia Climate School in New York and very soon with MIT in Boston.” A great initiative that shows that innovation and collaboration can make a difference when faced with the challenges of tomorrow.
