WE ARE A GROUP OF DRIVEN "OUTSIDE THE BOX" THINKERS ON A MISSION TO DEVELOP AND COMMERCIALISE ETHICAL BIOMATERIAL SOLUTIONS THAT ACTUALLY WORK
OUR VISION
SymbioTex’s vision is to disrupt this harmful cycle by displacing as much landfilled single use rigid plastic as we can. We have created a sustainable and truly home compostable material that can be used to revolutionise the production of packaging and medical devices currently made from single-use plastic.
We are well aware that not all plastic items can be displaced (from a volume perspective or from a technical performance perspective), however our solution aims to displace items which meet volumes and technical performance requirements; all at a reasonable price point.
We make sustainable materials work.
Transforming the environmental impact of these items will help to embrace a healthier future for our planet and improved health and well-being for consumers around the world.
The Team
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Our journey begins...
After seeing the extent of single-use medical plastic waste whilst on placement in the NHS, Olivia co-founded SymbioTex with a University of Wolverhampton Colleague, Mattia Parati. During her placement within New Cross, the local Wolverhampton NHS hospital, she discovered that every year in the UK alone 73 million inhalers are distributed and only 0.5% ever get recycled.
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Olivia and Mattia decided to team up to develop a solution for this global problem. Mattia, a keen biotechnologist, was fascinated by the ability of natural microorganisms to synthesise products that could displace fossil fuel derived solutions. During his bachelor he focused on the use of spent cooking oils as a substrate for the biosynthesis of poly(hydroxyalkanoates) a thermoplastic polyester. Together, they set out to combine clever science, cutting edge processes and traditional machinery, to displace single use plastics with natural material counterparts.
Olivia is an experienced project manager with experience in effective stakeholder engagement. She truly dedicates herself to creating a positive impact in her local community and the wider society.
She recently won the Verzion & Unloc Young Entrepreneurs Challenge 2023 and spoke at the Global Research and Innovation in Plastics Sustainability Conference on sustainable plastics in healthcare with Innovate UK KTN.
Olivia has been shortlisted for both 'Female Innovator of the Year' & 'Young Innovator of the Year' award at The Innovation Awards.
Dr. Mattia Parati is an experienced researcher in biomaterials and biotechnology focused on biomaterial formulation, algal biotechnology and bioprocess engineering. He has completed his PhD in bioprocess engineering during which he has secured grants from organisations including Algae UK, BBSRC and Innovate UK.
Mattia is the first author of nine high impact factor papers and five patents. Mattia was a finalist in the Next Generation Sustainable Solutions KTN Materials Research alongside the Royal Society of Chemistry Enabling Technologies Competition and has been shortlisted for the ‘Sustainable Innovator of the Year' award at The Innovation Awards.
"We are unique to other biomaterials companies who find a simple but short term solution to the single-use plastic problem.
We want to ensure we use a sustainable material (carbon neutral or carbon negative) which can be cultivated rather than wild harvested, which can be processed mildly (with low environmental/resource impact), which is biodegradable, but more than that, is also home compostable.
Although we set out to disrupt the medical sector, our material can be a sustainable plug-and-play solution to many rigid plastics such as cosmetic pots and packaging, clothing hang tags, lipstick casings and many other applications!"
Olivia Simpson, SymbioTex MD
