Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Can we make plastics fossil-free, and still affordable, recyclable, and scalable? 🌍
In this episode of Climate Confident, I speak with Christopher Carrick, founder and CTO of Lignin Industries, a Swedish climate-tech startup turning waste from the paper industry into high-performance, carbon-negative bioplastics.
Christopher explains how they’ve managed to replace up to 40% of fossil-based plastics like polypropylene, polyethylene, and ABS with modified lignin, the brown polymer found in wood. The result is a recyclable material that performs just as well as traditional plastic, costs nearly the same, and even smells faintly of forest.
We unpack:
🌱 How lignin can make plastics circular and climate-positive
🔬 Why recyclability and thermal stability matter more than “biodegradable” labels
💶 The path to cost parity through scale and smart partnerships
⚖️ Why regulation, not technology, is now the bottleneck in the plastics transition
💡 The human side of innovation: when sustainability also feels good
This isn’t theory, it’s applied chemistry driving real-world decarbonisation. If you care about climate innovation, circular economy, and the future of materials, you’ll want to hear this conversation.
🎧 Listen to more episodes at climateconfidentpodcast.com
👇 Subscribe for weekly conversations with leaders driving the clean transition.
Can we make plastics fossil-free, and still affordable, recyclable, and scalable? 🌍
In this episode of Climate Confident, I speak with Christopher Carrick, founder and CTO of Lignin Industries, a Swedish climate-tech startup turning waste from the paper industry into high-performance, carbon-negative bioplastics.
Christopher explains how they’ve managed to replace up to 40% of fossil-based plastics like polypropylene, polyethylene, and ABS with modified lignin, the brown polymer found in wood. The result is a recyclable material that performs just as well as traditional plastic, costs nearly the same, and even smells faintly of forest.
We unpack:
🌱 How lignin can make plastics circular and climate-positive
🔬 Why recyclability and thermal stability matter more than “biodegradable” labels
💶 The path to cost parity through scale and smart partnerships
⚖️ Why regulation, not technology, is now the bottleneck in the plastics transition
💡 The human side of innovation: when sustainability also feels good
This isn’t theory, it’s applied chemistry driving real-world decarbonisation. If you care about climate innovation, circular economy, and the future of materials, you’ll want to hear this conversation.
🎧 Listen to more episodes at climateconfidentpodcast.com
👇 Subscribe for weekly conversations with leaders driving the clean transition.
