FuturaMat is a company that strives to develop innovative uses for renewable and natural resources. The circular economy is at the heart of the company’s policy. The production site located near Poitiers perfectly meets our need for local production, allowing us to reduce our carbon footprint as much as possible. Kojo has chosen FuturaMat for the production of the recycled bioplastic clips that will allow the plates to fit together!
For the occasion, we have realized a small interview with Sandra Martin, manager of FuturaMat and expert in bioplastic.
How did you get the idea to recycle plastic?
The basic idea is not to recycle plastic! It is to replace the plastic from petrochemicals by vegetable carbon. In a logic of eco-responsibility to limit global warming and the greenhouse effect. The real driving force behind FuturaMat’s approach is ecology.
Were there already compounders offering this solution?
There are very few on the plant carbon, each to its specialty.
Eco-design comes from a very diverse approach, whether it is solutions on logistics, on design, there are a lot. At FuturaMat, the focus is on materials. Things are changing, however, and compounders are now entering the plant carbon market, but there are still few companies in this segment.
What was the biggest challenge you faced when starting Futuramat?
The biggest difficulty was that the vegetal carbon lacked credit, it was technically complicated to manufacture, the machines suffered from fouling and the price was too high. It was difficult to find a price positioning that made its use economically viable.
What future for plastic?
Today, there are several solutions available to us:
– Vegetable plastic.
– Recycle as much plastic as possible.
Can plastic be eco-responsible?
Of course, we have to rethink our uses and ask ourselves the right questions: how to waste as little as possible and reuse as much as possible. We add to this the alternative solutions such as the vegetable plastic. Opportunities exist to limit the use of “petroleum” plastic and its effects.
On the subject of eco-responsibility, what do you think of the Kojo project?
It is encouraging when projects are set up from the start and from A to Z with an eco-design perspective. In particular, by thinking about the end of the product’s life from the start, a criterion that is often neglected during the design stage. A sustainable and reusable concept is the basis of eco-responsibility.
A toy made in France, does that speak to you?
We didn’t have many toys made in France anymore!
However, producing in France has a lot of benefits, we have a better quality control on products, reindustrialization would create activity in France and in terms of logistics and production costs in general.
The made in France has sense whether it is at the social, economic or ecological level.
We invite you to visit FuturaMat ‘s website to discover more about their activity and Kojo’s Ulule page.
