Diving Deep for a Sustainable Solution to Eliminate Single-Use Plastics

Kelpi, a sustainable material innovation company, is using Asynt's DrySyn oil-free heating blocks and CondenSyn waterless air condensers to combat marine plastic pollution and reduce the production of single-use plastics made from fossil fuels.

Dr Stefanie Federle, Chief Scientific Officer, explained: “Kelpi is here to end the madness of using fossil fuels to create largely unrecycled, single-use packaging that takes hundreds of years to degrade, poisoning our oceans and polluting our landscape. We’re here to pioneer a new generation of solutions that leaves the oil where it belongs – in the ground - and offer compostable, marine-safe alternatives manufactured from seaweed.”

Even as finalists for the Tom Ford Plastic Innovation Prize powered by Lonely Whale, the Kelpi team continues to make progress in their mission to transform packaging for the food and cosmetic industries. With £3 million in seed funding secured, the company is actively pursuing its goal of reducing reliance on single-use plastics.

Stefanie confirmed that most of their chemists had worked with DrySyn before, during their PhD or undergraduate studies at the University of Bath or University of Bristol, so when it came to kitting out the Kelpi lab, the choice was obvious. She commented: “We already knew that they are great products and, in addition to the sustainability advantages, we especially like them for their ease of use.  We’ve been using DrySyn since Kelpi started!”

When handling volumes of up to 100 mL before scaling up, Kelpi's scientists rely on the DrySyn MULTI platform to mix reagents, conduct extractions, and carry out chemical synthesis at temperatures ranging from ambient to 150°C. For heating reactions, they employ a reflux setup with the DrySyn and CondenSyn air condensers.

Kelpi's commitment to sustainability extends beyond its core mission and guides the company's choices as a business and employer. To this end, they prioritise environmentally friendly laboratory tools that are both efficient and user-friendly. The DrySyn and CondenSyn perfectly align with these values, and Kelpi's innovative scientists are utilising them to drive the transition away from single-use plastics derived from fossil fuels.

Contact Asynt o find out more about the DrySyn MULTI solutions for parallel chemistry in round bottom flasks up to 500 mL and  CondenSyn waterless air condensers.