Saturday, February 15, 2025

Company Converts Watermelon Waste into Biodegradable Plastics

by Lainey Kitzmann

Revolutionizing sustainable manufacturing, AgroRenew, a startup based in Indiana, is set to revolutionize the plastics industry by turning watermelon waste into biodegradable plastics. The company recently marked a significant milestone with the groundbreaking of its new $83 million facility in southern Indiana, bringing them closer to full-scale production.

The facility, spanning 196,000 square feet across more than 20 acres, plans to be a hub of innovation and employment with over 250 jobs to be created. Beyond watermelon waste, AgroRenew plans to utilize cantaloupes and pumpkins as feedstock for their bioplastics, implementing a wide range of agricultural waste.

“We’ll be testing product during the first quarter of 2025,” remarked Brian Southern, co-founder of AgroRenew, detailing the timeline for initial production trials. “Our product demand is so high that our customers are saying they will buy our test product. By the end of 2025, that facility will be closer to production capacity.”

The idea of AgroRenew stemmed from the discovery of significant watermelon waste in collaboration with local farmers. “We started to do some experimentation and figured out that there are chemical properties in the watermelon that can be used as one of the ingredients to make 100-percent biodegradable plastic,” Southern elaborated. “My wife, Katie, is a food scientist so she understands all the chemical properties. With my experience in chemical engineering, we were able to work together and come up with biodegradable plastics.”

In addition to manufacturing, AgroRenew is establishing a Bioplastics Innovation Center aimed at further advancements in sustainable materials. “We’re openly collaborating with other plastics industry companies and scientists from around the world and universities,” Southern highlighted.

As the project progresses, stakeholders anticipate a transformative impact on both the local economy and global sustainability efforts.

For more information about AgroRenew, visit their new website: AgroRenew.org.

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Northern Ag Network / NAFB

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