BE O Lifestyle: From oil-based plastic to bioplastic

BE O Lifestyle image
Type of organisation or company
Country
Netherlands
City
Nijmegen
Language for original content
Key Area
Submitted by
Holland Circular Hotspot
Start/End date
Ongoing
Yes
Description

BE O Lifestyle wants to speed up the transition from oil-based plastic to bioplastic by making attractive, useful lifestyle products made from bioplastic.

After investing four years in research and two years in product development, they have proven that there is a different and more sustainable way to make plastic. The BE O bottle is a water bottle made from sugar cane residue instead of crude oil. It is modular, meaning that it takes up less space when empty and is easy to clean (dishwasher proof, 100% recyclable and BPA free).

The bottles were designed in collaboration with BPO in Delft and produced at Hollarts in Didam, the Netherlands.

At the moment, the company is expanding its team and product range (new colours for the bottle and a second product). In 10 years' time, it plans to have expanded to BE O products (15 to 20 reusable items to cut down on the use of single-use plastic) and BE O materials (development of new bioplastics) and to have established a BE O factory (which will be CO2-neutral).

The company is currently active in Benelux and Germany and looking for partners in Germany, France, the Nordic countries and Southern and Eastern Europe.

Main activity field
Main results
  • Since its launch in April 2019, the company has won several awards (Green Product Award, Promz Audience Prize) and been nominated for various innovation prizes.
  • BE O has also partnered with Trees for the Future, an organisation which plants a tree for every bottle sold. On average, a tree absorbs 15.6 kg of CO2 each year. This has a significant positive impact on the carbon footprint of the BE O bottle.
  • In fact, the bottle absorbs around 500 g of CO2 during production (sugarcane residue is used instead of oil) and then another 15.6 kg of CO2 every year for each tree that is planted.