Closing material loops with tailor-made packaging solutions: An interview with Martin Weber, Founder, one.five
August 6, 2024
Company name: one.five
Solution: providing circular, clean and tailor-made packaging solutions in record time and with measurable impact to the consumer packaged goods industry.
Year founded: 2020
Location: Hamburg, Germany
For large consumer brands, packaging is a serious pain point. Not only is it a massive contributor to emissions - usually a consumer brand’s biggest source of emissions apart from the product itself - it can be incredibly expensive and produce extensive plastic waste. For a long time consumer brands have had to accept this fact, limited to accepting the mediocre options the market offers.
Enter one.five, the expert in tailor-made packaging solutions. Using its AI software, one.five builds novel packaging that meets the individual needs of consumer brands to unlock greater packaging performance, affordability and sustainability. From food products to cosmetics, books to perfume, one.five works closely with its customers to build unique packaging recipes that meet their specific sustainability goals. We spoke to the company’s co-founder, Martin Weber, to find out more about how one.five puts consumer goods producers in the driving seat.
Why is one.five essential for consumer goods companies?
one.five empowers consumer brands to develop sustainable packaging which fit their needs exactly. Working closely with the brand, we harness AI to create a totally unique packaging recipe that prioritizes performance, affordability, pricing conditions and sustainability. Previously, packaging options have been limited for consumer brands and their choices were dictated by the market. By developing tailored packaging designs with these consumer brands, we’re turning this around and putting consumer brands in the driving seat.
What is one.five’s emissions reduction potential?
Our aim by 2040 is to reach an average of 1.5 tons of carbon emissions reduced for each ton of one.five material versus conventional packaging options. On a case by case basis, our reduction potential depends on the customer. We are entirely material and processing agnostic - one customer may be replacing virgin PP tubs and another aluminum composite, for example - meaning the final emissions savings will naturally differ between customers. Our level of impact also differs from region to region, because the end-of-life scenarios for different packaging depends on local recycling infrastructure. Whatever the scenario, we develop solutions that deliver on our customers’ individual sustainability goals.
Why did you form one.five?
The idea for one.five was first sparked while my co-founder Claire Hae-Min Gusko and I were working in the vertical farming space. Throughout our time in the industry, packaging kept cropping up as a huge pain point for us as a business. It was surprisingly difficult to source sustainable packaging at scale, so we began speaking to universities to get to the bottom of this challenge. Our research revealed to us that there was a lack of communication between universities working on the R&D of sustainable packaging and the large manufacturers of this packaging. Further conversations with large consumer goods brands confirmed our assumption that they had no way of tapping into innovation happening at universities, meaning the novel development of sustainable packaging for large scale production wasn’t happening. We decided to use the AI expertise and connections with both the consumer goods industry and leading research institutions to bridge this gap. We left the vertical farming space and founded one.five.
What challenges do you face to scale?
Updating their products’ packaging is naturally a big shift for consumer manufacturers, and not a decision they take lightly. Nevertheless, a growing number of brands are looking for packaging alternatives because packaging materials are increasingly costly, especially due to extended producer responsibility (EPR) fees. Regulatory changes such as the incoming EU Packaging & Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) have also encouraged our customers to rethink their packaging sooner rather than later. Changing attitudes are leading an increasing number of brands to want to take the leap - something that our partnerships with big brand owners evidence.
Sometimes packaging manufacturers are also hesitant to collaborate with us because they are concerned that we will totally take over the packaging manufacturing side of their business. This is a natural concern to have, so to these brands, I remind them of our business model: We develop the design, then hand over the final recipe (almost on a silver platter), only reaping our returns once our customers achieve large-scale commercial success. Our principal aim is to enable packaging manufacturers to deliver large quantities of better packaging solutions to their current customers. We are here to empower them.
Why did you partner with Climentum Capital?
We knew the Climentum team even before they launched their first fund, so it was evident quite early on in our journey that we would make a good partnership. Not only have they been crucial in introducing us to other investors in their network, but the team really understands us. All team members have been operators before, which is a unique trait in an investor team and something we appreciate as a startup, because they truly understand Claire and I’s positions as founders.
What’s next for one.five?
We’re past the first stage of development and now moving into machine runnability tests in preparation for our first market launch, which includes a million-square meter pilot facility. Meanwhile, we continue to develop our AI capabilities and focus on generating valuable proprietary data to fine-tune the recommendation engine.
We’re ready to deliver our first high gross margin licensing model and have already found our product market fit. Now we can bring our solution to more customers.
Have we piqued your interest? Find out more about one.five and connect with Martin.
