Protegg® our future.
We, Protegg® GmbH, are a young, award-winning bioeconomy start-up from Munich. Started as a project in 2020 and founded as a company in 2022, we at Protegg® deal with the processing and transformation of the residual eggshell membrane from the egg-processing industry into a novel, standardised raw material. This raw material forms the basis for the development and production of new bio-based Protegg® materials and applications. Our development is always based on three principles: circular, holistic, innovative.
In our research, we created a groundbreaking bio-based plastic, jointly optimized by Fraunhofer Gesellschaft in a 2022 study commissioned by Protegg®. The study validated scientific assumptions and incorporated new findings for future applications.
We shared our vision with external stakeholders, thereby building a broad network of mentors and supporters in corporate, scientific, and political sectors who actively advise and support us in finance, business development, and research.
The Protegg® bioplastic acts as a versatile habitat for encoded, sensitive DNA and other responsive elements. These are protected by the bioplastic from UV light, heat and and other damages caused by external factors.
Protecting and preserving: the natural properties of the eggshell membrane are the functions that promise great potential in the packaging and container sector.
The Protegg® bioplastic impresses with highly exciting material properties such as mechanical stability, water resistance, high density, hardness and UV stability.
Managing escalating waste for a sustainable future.
The UN FAO reports a global daily production of 3.8 billion eggs, with 328 million in the EU. These numbers are projected to rise, with a 26% increase from 2010 to 2020. Forecasts suggest a 9.2% rise to 95.6 million tons per year in production by 2030. Escalating egg production has led to a significant increase in waste, causing environmental concerns. Disposing of this waste externally is costly, impacting low-margin egg businesses. Improper disposal is common in under-resourced regions, leading to groundwater and soil quality issues.
Protegg® Applications
The conversion of the residual material into the homogeneous raw material Protegg® ESM forms the basis for the production of Protegg® Bio-Plastic which in turn lays the foundation for three application areas that Protegg® will focus on in 2023: (bio)sensors, bioplastics, bio-packaging and filter technology. Due to the unmatched ability of the Protegg® bioplastic to embed (bio-) molecules, the field of sensor technology, and more specifically, brand protection, are very interesting application areas for us.
The Benefits
At the moment Protegg® carries out another application-oriented study, supported by the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft, and whose aim is to generate a wide variety of prototypes for the areas of brand protection and (bio)sensor technology. This venture is funded by the project management organisation BayernInnovativ (a programme of the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy). In parallel, research on the Protegg® bioplastic will continue to be pursued to be usable in a broader range of substitutes, among others in the packaging industry.