Startup Tales | How Qwarzo revolutionizes packaging by making it sustainable and circular
Innovative SME from Rovato (BS) has developed an innovative mineral coating, which gives paper and other substrates the functional characteristics of plastic without affecting its recyclability.
Revolutionize the packaging industry with an innovative alternative to plastic and its damage, using silica to create a coating that can give paper, textiles, metals and other substrates new functional characteristics without negative impacts on the environment, following two of the principles on which the paradigm of the circular economy is based (reduce the use of raw materials while maintaining their recyclability).
This is the innovation result of more than 25 years of research and development by Qwarzo, innovative SME founded by the engineer Luca Panzeri who has deep experience in developing innovative and sustainable technologies for the plastic molding sector and is now CTO and R&D Manager of the company.
The patented Qwarzo® technology invented by Panzeri, in fact, is free of harmful elements. In addition, unlike traditional coatings made with plastic and organic polymers, Qwarzo® combines the qualities and performance of these solutions making the materials on which it is applied resistant to water, grease and heat, without affecting its recyclability and subsequent reuse.
Origins and growth of Qwarzo
Qwarzo was founded as an innovative startup in the province of Lecco by Luca Panzeri in 2015. After an intense R&D activity, in 2019 circular innovation reaches the first stage of maturity and, thanks to the greater sensitivity towards sustainability issues, on February of the same year the mineral-based coating is recognized as a Design Track Winner during the Ocean Plastic Innovation Challenge organized by National Geographic and Sky Ocean Ventures: award that celebrated Qwarzo’s innovative solutions in reducing the use of disposable plastics globally. In 2020, Qwarzo became the first signatory of the UN Decade of the Sciences of the Sea for Sustainable Development - promoted by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO - demonstrating its commitment to improve the condition of the Oceans.
At the same time, the innovative startup moved to Rovato (Brescia), and began preparing for go to market. Contextually to the growth investment, Emiliano Caradonna - with a long experience in finance and business development - became CEO of the company, marking a turning point for the Brescian reality.
“The go to market - explains Caradonna - was still a bit far, as often happens for startups. As a result, the following year an investment fund entered the company which, thanks to a ‘major’ financial commitment, allowed us to structure ourselves to respond to market needs with products able to demonstrate the scalability of technology”.
“The first sector we turned to was food - continues the CEO of Qwarzo -, as the food packaging industry had to respond quickly to political and consumer pressures on sustainability. For a solution to be optimal, it must be implementable on a large scale. In this perspective, for example, more than 30 billion pallets are consumed every year in Europe to turn sugar into coffee: a single application among many possible uses of our technology, which implies a significant production capacity and scalability. To which are added everyday consumer items such as cutlery, plates and disposable paper glasses, not forgetting the primary, secondary and tertiary packaging for food”.
Any technology to be implemented, therefore, must ensure its scalability, and this aspect has been the focus of Qwarzo’s work from 2020 to today, demonstrating that innovative coating applications can be developed and produced on a large scale by 2023. “At this point we started to put our technology to service to Brand Owner and Converter without making finished products, instead devoting ourselves to the production of coating and development of application technologies, then helping companies to make the plug-in our innovation”, says Caradonna.
“In this way - continues the CEO of Qwarzo - we allow companies with linear business models to adopt new and circular ones, as for example, those focused on the production of plastic objects with ‘old’ business models, that thanks to our innovation they automatically become front runner of this new concept and paradigm of the circular economy”.
All this initially met resistance from companies that had opted for different solutions (such as bioplastics) in continuity with traditional plastic. “Realities that with organic solutions were faced with a problem of approach, or do the same things they did before in sustainable ways”, highlights Caradonna. “A postulate that in the long run does not work if you do not want to radically change your approach - adds the CEO of Qwarzo -, to be sustainable is not possible to do without circularity. In fact, it is impossible to respond with old solutions to new problems without a radical change of vision: today we welcome companies that have courage, courage to innovate and revolutionize their production processes”.
In this context, the innovation of the SME from Rovato has shown that it can be a ‘winning’ solution, since it does not upset the dynamics of the companies but integrates into the existing production systems, with world-class brands working on new applications of the Qwarzo® coating.
What is Qwarzo® technology and how it fits into the circular economy paradigm
Qwarzo, Caradonna points out, “is an innovation that differs from organic solutions such as bioplastics, starting from nature. Silica is found in plants and trees. We increase the quantity and quality to make the coating applied on the paper confers new functionalities, without affecting the recyclability of the packaging: a more important factor and circular than biodegradability (however guaranteed) because the goal is that a paper cup has a second, third and fourth life. This is possible thanks to our barrier innovation which, in addition to being recyclable, contains no harmful elements such as ethylene, PE and PFAS”.
The role of Intesa Sanpaolo and Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center in the growth of Qwarzo
The growth path of Qwarzo includes the support of Intesa Sanpaolo and Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center. “A relationship that has enriched us particularly since the world of finance and banking impose high standards both in terms of communication and in the way we approach the outside world”, says Caradonna.
“Coming from the same field, I was very happy to see Qwarzo considered as a presentable company in this context: a not trivial fact, since the world of finance is highly regulated, every word ‘weighs’ and, consequently, it is necessary to speak with knowledge contrary to what often happens in the industrial field”, emphasizes the CEO of the Brescian company.
“Today - adds Caradonna - we have a structure dedicated to communication that has an important impact, and this is certainly due to the work of our team but also to very high standards for getting clear messages to the recipients of our communication”.
“Thanks to Intesa Sanpaolo and the Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center, we have participated in national and international events, where we have interfaced with high-level counterparts such as prestigious multinational companies which, by virtue of the attention received from the Intesa Sanpaolo Group, for example, have made it easier for us to communicate with our respective boards. A partnership with various facets, that represents an excellent opportunity for our growth”, points out the CEO of Qwarzo.
“Through our relationship with the Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center, in addition to participating in many events, we have had the opportunity to become part of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation Community (of which the Intesa Sanpaolo Group has been a strategic partner since 2015). A kind of recognition that we also experienced as a great responsibility, inserted in our path towards circularity”.
Qwarzo, in fact, is part of the portfolio of Business Development of Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center - a service that supports start-ups and innovative SMEs in their search for business partners and investors interested in the innovations they propose - and, in addition to the important and prestigious entry into the Community, it benefits from wide visibility through participation in national and international events such as SMAU Paris 2024.
Qwarzo’s communication strategy: education, challenges and awards
As regards communication - also thanks to the relationship with Intesa Sanpaolo – since 2023 Qwarzo has changed pace. In fact, at the beginning of last year Claudia Dilonardo - after a long experience in biomedical communication during which she worked on life-saving coatings - as she also believes that the coating developed by the innovative SME has equally extraordinary properties, so she became Brand Manager at Qwarzo.
“Having resources available both in terms of tools and human resources to expand the scope of the mission of Qwarzo, I realized how it was necessary to focus on educating the recipients of our communication strategy, Thus allowing Qwarzo® to stand out in a market saturated with greenwashing”, explains Dilonardo. “Our team - continues the Brand Manager of the Brescian innovative SME - carefully studies everything concerning the world of packaging, that of paper and, not least, regulations, understanding more and more that we can define ourselves as sustainable and circular. This daily exercise is facilitated by the search for competitions and challenges to participate in so that they can enhance our technology”.
“A process that is in line with what the Intesa Sanpaolo Group offers - adds Dilonardo -, and that besides SMAU Paris has allowed us to participate in important events such as the Innovation Meetup-New Materials organized by Toshiba and Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center” within a cycle of 5 meetings between the realities of the company’s portfolio and the companies in the Toshiba Tec Italia network.
“At the same time - says the Qwarzo Brand Manager - we are looking for value stages and institutional partnerships that can credit us, and in this sense we have become ambassadors of sustainable packaging for Comieco within the framework of Paper Week 2024, Developing an editorial plan to promote sustainability and knowledge issues in the packaging sector”.
Qwarzo® has won numerous awards, being elected Zero Waste Product of the Year in 2022 and 2023 by Zero Waste Italy as a recognition for the sustainable impact of its innovations, in addition to winning the Best Case History award from Safe for Network 2023 for innovative and sustainable solutions in the packaging industry.
The first half of 2024 has given other important rewards to the Brescian innovative SME. In fact, Qwarzo contributed to the success of Gondola Packaging, winner of the SIGEP Innovation Award thanks to the first paper ice cream cup coated with Qwarzo® technology; won the Green Product Award in Berlin in the Packaging category for its environmentally friendly packaging solutions and received a special mention in the Innovative Materials category at the Avant-Garde Packaging Première, thus consolidating its leading role in the sector. Qwarzo is also among the finalists for the Tocco Award in the FUTURE VISIONARY MATERIAL category: a recognition that celebrates innovators of cutting-edge materials in the R&D phase.
Qwarzo’s future prospects: new patents and new fields of application for circular coating
Turning to future perspectives, Caradonna says that “today we work with a lot of important brand owners and converters thanks to a gradual approach without forcing, also because the market moves with its time. We see a lot of applications coming to the market today, with food packaging as the first target”.
"Thanks to our presence at SMAU Paris, we have also approached different sectors that go beyond the food sector but are no less important. We continue to develop our technology for other equally important applications, we are filing new patents and continue in the activity of Research and Development as well as expanding the team, with the awareness of working to change the world, and the confidence that our children will succeed if they continue to work in this direction” concludes the CEO of Qwarzo.
