A young Australian couple have thrown in their day jobs as an architect and wine maker to tackle ‘the plastic problem’ after being disheartened by the sheer amount of waste in their industries. Julia and Jordy Kay are producing the world’s first compostable cling wrap and pallet wrap which is made out of potato waste, reports Belinda Cleary for Daily Mail Australia in this news story.
The Melbourne couple sold more than $30,000 of ‘Great Wrap‘ in their first week. Julia, 28, said they couldn’t make their Great Wrap “fast enough”. “The guys at the factory are under the pump. We’re proud to have converted 2000 homes from using plastic wrap,” she said of the first rush of online orders.
The couple quit their jobs at the beginning of 2020, spoke to experts and developed a fully compostable product that doesn’t leave any nasty micro plastics behind. Now they have 15 staff, a solar-powered factory and big plans to tackle the most destructive plastic-based products one at a time. The couple currently import the potato waste product from the US.
Their first product to go on the market was Great Wrap which was officially launched in April, they have made just over 500,000 metres of the plastic alternative. The couple will be able to offer Great Wrap at the same price point as regular petroleum based cling films, making it as accessible as possible.
The next product will be the pallet wrap – which has to be certified to show it can handle heavy loads without breaking. This will be made from the potato waste as well. Now they have a machine capable of making the pallet wrap which consists of five layers of their potato-based material and ‘waffle reinforcement’ to give it the strength to keep stock safe.
Source: Daily Mail Australia.
Photos: Supplied by Julia Kay
