Cove, the California-based material innovation company that plans to introduce the first water bottle made entirely of biodegradable material later this year, announced it has entered into an exclusive partnership deal with RWDC Industries. RWDC will supply its proprietary PHA – a sustainably sourced, naturally occurring biopolymer – to produce Cove's water bottles.
Cove's mission is to end the world's reliance on plastic. The company's investors include Valor Equity, Marc Benioff, James Murdoch, Tony Robbins and Peter Rahal.
RWDC Industries, based in Athens, Georgia and Singapore uses plant-based oils, including post-consumer or used cooking oils, to produce PHA, which it has branded Solon™. Founded by Daniel Carraway and Roland Wee, the biotech company combines deep expertise in PHA properties and applications with the engineering know-how to reach cost-effective industrial scale.
"We are incredibly excited to partner with Daniel and his team, who have been at the center of PHA innovation over the past two decades," said Alex Totterman, Cove's CEO and founder.
Under the partnership agreement, Cove will obtain 350 million pounds of PHA, supplied by RWDC, over the course of five years. This will enable Cove to scale to hundreds of millions of bottles in just a few short years.
After an extensive, three-year research and development effort, during which Cove worked with a number of PHA producers, the company determined that RWDC has the most advanced technology and is the best-suited partner for aggressive growth. Cove already has large retail deals in place for its first product launch, the water bottle, later this year.
"We are thrilled to be working with the Cove team to make PHA-based water bottles a reality. In a world where over one million plastic bottles are purchased per minute, our collaboration is an important step toward providing materials that enable healthier options for people and the environment," said Dr. Daniel Carraway, co-founder and CEO of RWDC.
The partnership between Cove and RWDC is supported by an exclusive agreement for the use of Solon™ for beverage bottles and closure products. In the future, Cove plans to produce products in other categories in its mission to accelerate the adoption of sustainable materials like PHA.
(Source: PR Newswire)
