Food tech pioneer TripleW goes international to level up circular economy
TripleW rolls up its sleeves to turn food waste into high-value biomaterials. With its ingenious pioneering tech positively contributing to our planet, food waste management and materials production processes, the Israeli startup is set for international success. Cofounder and COO Amir Oranim talks about how his ambitions first brought him to Flanders.
In short
- The tech: climate transformative tech and patented process that converts food waste into a lactic acid product that’s low cost, versatile and 100% renewable.
- The startup: founded by Amir Oranim and Tal Shapira in 2016. Based in Netanya (Israel), active in the EU, the US and Asia.
- The goal: production of lactic acid and PLA worldwide.
“Traditionally produced from expensive food crops, lactic acid is everywhere: from food preservatives, cleaning agents and personal care products, to bioplastics. We’re the first to use a sustainable fermentation-based process to turn food waste into this important raw material.”
The quest for the right pilot facility
After the initial development phase of TripleW’s biobased innovation, the startup was ready to scale its technology.
- The task at hand: transform its lab-scale production processes into viable, efficient industrial-scale processes that can handle multiple types of food waste feedstocks.
- The problem: no specialized infrastructure available in Israel to achieve that.
Amir and Tal had no other option but to go abroad. After screening and visiting many biotech pilot facilities in, among other nations, France, the Netherlands and Sweden, they ended up in Flanders – and stayed there. As one of the largest European pilot plants for the bioeconomy, the Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant (BBEPP) in Ghent won TripleW’s heart from the start
Amir: “It immediately felt like a match on all levels: the state-of-the-art facility, the vast knowledge of its engineers, the fairly short travel time from Israel, the availability of grants. We seized the opportunity to work with BBEPP with both hands and eagerly made our first leap abroad to Flanders.”
Growing roots in Flanders
In 2017, TripleW launched its collaboration with BBEPP, scaling up their technology step by step, while building relations in Flanders’ business community. To fully leverage the available opportunities and go beyond a pilot scale set-up, Amir quickly realized that TripleW needed a subsidiary in Flanders.
BBEPP guided him toward Flanders Investment & Trade (FIT), after which TripleW’s position in Flanders really started to take root.
“FIT helped us secure our position in the food waste value chain by introducing us to every relevant key player in Flanders’ startup ecosystem. We’ve established long-term partnerships with each of them.”
To establish its activities in Flanders, TripleW benefited from support from, among others:
- Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship (VLAIO), Flanders’ government agency for the promotion of growth and innovation
- PMV, the investment firm of the government of Flanders
- Darling Ingredients and its subsidiary Group Op de Beeck, an expert in organic waste processing
- supermarket retailers
- business developers
- talent-sourcing and HR companies
- bookkeeping and legal services
Challenge? Accepted!
Launching your operations into a new market also means getting acquainted with the peculiarities of the local business environment. For TripleW, understanding Flanders’ payroll system was a tough nut to crack at first.
Amir: “I had never heard of payroll companies before. The salary system in Flanders is entirely different to Israel, with peculiarities such as salary indexation as well as specific social and legal regulations. FIT introduced us to lawyers, who were a tremendous help in grasping how everything works and staying compliant.”
Today, TripleW is employing four top-notch engineers from Flanders and one from the Netherlands. “I’m very impressed by their specialized biotech knowledge and hands-on approach. We truly built an elite A-team here in Flanders, and I really enjoy working with them.”
“Best business decision we’ve ever made”
With its new Flanders-based subsidiary in place, TripleW commissioned the construction of a full-blown industrial demonstration facility. Where? At the site of organic waste streams expert Group Op de Beeck, acquired by Darling Ingredients in 2022.
This decision provides TripleW with a strategic location in the Port of Antwerp-Bruges, as Europe’s second-largest port and a hotbed for green innovations. To fund the first-of-its-kind demo installation, the startup received a grant from VLAIO.
“Building our demo installation was the best business decision I’ve ever made,” says Amir. It accelerated TripleW’s journey on multiple levels:
Magnitude
Proof of the efficacy of TripleW’s technology and production processes at a full-scale facility.
Site visits
Investments into TripleW as a direct result of the unique experience of seeing – and smelling – food waste being converted into a clean product.
Valuable partnerships
Tech advancements and business opportunities resulting from the collaboration with BBEPP, Group Op de Beeck and multiple companies associated with the Port of Antwerp-Bruges.
Commercialization
The first food waste-based detergent with lactic acid from TripleW recently launched by Ecover, a Belgian manufacturer of ecologically sound cleaning agents.
“It’s amazing how far collaborations can take you. Putting our product on the market ourselves would’ve meant a huge financial effort and a steep learning curve with regards to packaging, marketing, sales – you name it. But Ecover, one of our partners in Flanders, just did it. We’ve gained so much from this partnership.”
Securing European funding: European Waste2Func project
TripleW’s technology plays a vital role in the Waste2Func project, which demonstrates the production of biobased functional molecules for home and personal care applications. To do so, it’s using food waste from agriculture, the food industry, supermarkets and restaurants.
If successful, the results of this project can:
- lower CO2 emissions by at least 20%
- increase value from waste two- to ten-fold
- create jobs in Flanders and the rest of Europe, where the waste streams are sourced
The project has received a multi-million funding from the EU’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program, and brings together 12 partners from 5 countries, including TripleW and its partners BBEPP, Group Op de Beeck and Ecover.
3 target markets = an array of possibilities
TripleW mainly focuses on the EU, the US and Asia: the most welcoming markets for climate tech innovations. “When we spot an opportunity, we pursue it by flying there and trying to advance the communication. This has already led to new projects in the US and South Korea.”
Amir is confident that new business opportunities will keep presenting themselves, as the markets they’re in are fueled by ever-increasing shifts toward:
- climate tech investments
- eco-friendly materials
- waste treatment advancements
“Environmental, social & corporate (ESG) governance will increase to take center stage for more and more companies and governments around the world,” Amir points out. “If choices need to be made between fossil-based materials and more ecological alternatives, the latter are already on the winning hand. The timing is exactly right to further commercialize our product.”
“Flanders is an incredible place for the development of climate tech. All stakeholders in the ecosystem are open to innovation, eager to collaborate and disrupt the market. Being close to the NextGen District in the Port of Antwerp-Bruges, a hotspot for pioneers in the circular economy, our Israeli startup will find ample support for a bright future locally and internationally.”
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