Great Wrap launches compostable pallet wrap

Melbourne-based material science company Great Wrap has launched what it claims is the world’s first Compostable Pallet Wrap, made with food waste, to complement its range of domestic wrap offerings.

The wrap is manufactured from potato peelings at Great Wrap’s 10,000sqm facility in Tullamarine, Victoria where capacity has risen to 5,000 tonnes of compostable stretch wrap in 2023, with 20,000 tonnes planned by 2025.

According to the company this makes Great Wrap Australia’s largest stretch wrap manufacturer, significantly decreasing Australia’s need to import stretch wrap from other parts of the world.

Co-founder of Great Wrap Jordy Kay said: “We’ve completed commercial trials with major Australian retailers, food and beverage manufacturers and household name brands, and their feedback is consistent — Great Wrap performs as well as petroleum-based pallet wrap.

“We’re calling on all Australian business owners to switch because the high-quality product means the only shift is where they purchase it.”

Australia sends more than 100,000 tonnes of stretch wrap to landfill each year, including cling wrap, catering wrap, silage wrap and pallet wrap.

Pallet wrap, used by manufacturing businesses, is a critical part of the global supply chain, however very few facilities can recycle petroleum-based pallet wrap — meaning more than 90 percent goes to landfill.

Great Wrap is home compostable, and when it is composted and returned to soil it can decrease Australia’s carbon footprint by over 100,000 tonnes every year by lowering our dependence on fossil fuels.

This latest innovation can solve the plastic pollution problem as it can be composted or repurposed to create new materials and returned to the soil to add microbial value to agricultural land.

Julia Kay, Co-founder of Great Wrap said: “We’ve had a huge demand building over the past three years from businesses far and wide.

“Most businesses, whether you know it or not, are using petroleum-based pallet wrap to send and receive their goods. This product is unavoidable, it is essential, and it’s a global problem that we are solving.”

Great Wrap is also working on its own pallet wrap collection service.

While currently targeting Australian plastic waste, Great Wrap also launched its direct-to-consumer line in the US in 2022.

Further reading:
A VISION WHERE INNOVATIVE AUSTRALIAN-MADE DISPLACES PLASTIC – BY JULIA KAY

Picture: Great Wrap