MAINE PUBLIC • June 24, 2024
A Maine based start-up is getting a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation to scale up its packaging that is fish friendly. Paramount Planet Product uses cellulose to create materials that can be molded into take-out food containers. Founder Adriadne Dimoula said many plastics are made with chemicals that can't be recycled, but cellulose will naturally break down in the environment. "That natural ability to dissolve, to biodegrade, and to not have toxic materials in it is one of the principles that we utilize in the design in our products. Nature can process it or digest it because it's never gone through a synthetic process," Dimoula said. She said her products can be recycled in paper streams, are ocean compostable, and don't harm fish.