Plant-based plastics are about to change the world

September 5, 2023

Dillon Baxter, 26 is the CEO and co-founder of PlantSwitch, a bioplastics company poised to forever change how our economy and our environment consume, compost and bio-degrade plastic. The post-college prodigy, along with his PlantSwitch co-founder Maxime Blandin, 29, manufactures the most advanced, high-performance, cost-effective and easily compostable plant-based plastic alternative ever brought to market.

With the company’s newly launched U.S.-based manufacturing facility, PlantSwitch now has the infrastructure in place to manufacture over 50 million pounds annually of its bioplastic material.

Under Baxter’s leadership, PlantSwitch has raised $17.5 million in working capital, which includes a coveted $5M USDA grant. They are now gearing up to manufacture their bioplastic raw material for multiple Fortune 500 companies, which will be rolling out to the public in Q1 of 2024. From major fast-food chains and pharmacy chains to large cosmetics brands, PlantSwitch bioplastics will soon be part of our everyday lives.

“Our goal is to turn one billion pounds of plants into our bioplastic material over the next decade,” shares Baxter.

Baxter first made his discovery while working at a private equity firm during his senior year at Southern Methodist University. He was tasked with performing due diligence on a company in the bioplastics industry. “I knew this bioplastic technology could be the future, but there were a few key issues with it that needed solving.” 

Baxter soon left his full-time job at an investment bank in pursuit of developing a more effective bioplastic; one that would have a shot at replacing petroleum-based plastics. “I made the crazy decision to leave a high-paying job and live off $16 a day while building PlantSwitch.”

Baxter’s former SMU classmate and PlantSwitch co-founder, Maxime Blandin, had connections with contract manufacturers and the two got to work. “We worked quickly to get an MVP (minimum viable product) into the market, we then raised capital and hired a talented team to develop the world-changing technology that we have today.”

How Baxter and Blandin’s PlantSwitch Bioplastic is Fixing The Plastic Dilemma

Addressing the Price Gap

“Bioplastic technology has historically been very expensive, while traditional petroleum-based plastic is comparatively inexpensive to produce. Our feedstocks are agricultural byproducts, so we have a much lower raw material cost than any other bioplastic, and we are also giving waste streams a second life. Additionally, a lot of the previous plant-based materials weren’t compatible with existing plastics machinery, they weren’t drop-in solutions and they required companies to purchase specialized equipment to use them” explains Baxter.  “Companies don’t want to have to replace their expensive equipment. Our material is a true drop-in solution because it is fully compatible with current plastic machinery.”

Addressing the Performance Gap

“PlantSwitch offers a tactile and performance match to traditional plastic. It feels like plastic, looks like plastic, and performs like plastic, with the same bend, flex and strength.”

Biodegradable and Compostable

“Previous bioplastics were only able to be composted in an industrial facility. PlantSwitch bioplastic products easily and quickly break down in common backyard composting bins and countertop composters. Watch HERE.

“For a truly sustainable material, it should be able to biodegrade on its own, leaving behind no toxic chemicals or microplastics. PlantSwitch meets these criteria.”

While petroleum-based plastic takes over 1,000 years to break down in a landfill, PlantSwitch bioplastic is nontoxic and breaks down completely in just a few months in a home or industrial compost environment, with 0 toxicity or microplastics left behind.

PlantSwitch bioplastic is truly sustainable in that it really just goes away. It’s priced right, and it’s a drop-in solution for current machinery. “That is how you solve the plastic problem,” concludes Baxter.  “Our material is the answer to plastic that the world has been looking for .”

PlantSwitch co-founder and CEO, Dillon Baxter, is available for interviews about the company’s groundbreaking bioplastic technology, their new U.S.-based bioplastics manufacturing facility,  and its versatile capabilities.

For More Information Visit PlantSwitch.com.