The German Founders' Award is one of the most prestigious business prizes in Germany. Since 1997, the trophy has been used to promote entrepreneurial achievements and business ideas that are particularly capable of meeting the challenges of the future and sustainably changing entire industries. Plastic waste is one of these global problems. With the development of a biomaterial from agricultural residues that is fully compostable and can replace conventional plastic, the Hamburg-based start-up Traceless Materials convinced the jury of the German Founders' Prize. The award ceremony took place on September 13 in the ZDF capital studio in Berlin for the 20th time.

Traceless makes dreams come true

The German Founder's Award is given in the categories Student, StartUp, Up-and-Coming and Lifetime Achievement. The two Traceless founders, Anne Lamp and Johanna Baare, prevailed in the StartUp category from among three finalists. Traceless makes a dream come true, says the jury's statement. "The "traceless" granulate can be processed like plastic granulate, however, it is not made from petroleum, but from grain waste." The jury also recognized that Lamp and Baare were founding a company "that takes responsibility" and "that has a positive impact on the world."

Replace conventional plastic

Traceless uses a biological waste material and processes it further in an environmentally friendly way. The resulting bio-granulate can be easily made into films, coatings or even solid plastic parts, thus replacing conventional plastic in many areas without much effort.