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Jars of growing cellulose in the Plastilose lab in Delft

Mission and timeline

We do not only make cups. We are developing a new kind of factory.

The medicine cup is our first product, not our end goal. Our goal is a worldwide network of factories, our own and partners' under licence, that turn waste streams into disposables without plastic. Goal (details and source)

Why we do this

Why, how and what.

  1. Why

    Disposables are often needed, in healthcare above all. But after one use, plastic is left behind, year after year. That can change.

  2. How

    Our bacteria grow on side streams from the food industry, not on food itself. Our own data (details and source) We turn it into rigid disposables. We design every production line so it can be built again. We can do that, and so can partners.

  3. What

    First the medicine cup for healthcare. Then more products, our own production line and factories at partners.

What we want to achieve

The cup is the start. The factory is the product.

We do not just want to sell cups, but the way to make them. That is a factory that turns waste streams into disposables without plastic. First we build it ourselves. Then partners build it, all over the world.

  1. One production line of our own

    Our plan is our own production line for 1 million cups a week. We aim for the first cups at the end of 2028 and full capacity in 2030. Goal (details and source)

  2. Licences to partners

    The first licence is planned for 2030. After that, partners can build factories with our process, each with a line of 1 million cups a week. Goal (details and source)

  3. 100 million a week

    In the long term we want to make 100 million products a week, on our own lines and with partners. The medicine cup is where it starts. Goal (details and source)

  4. Back to the soil

    We want to bring products into the world whose end of life does no harm. Our goal is that such a product breaks down after use. We are not there yet. Today the cup still belongs in general waste. Goal (details and source)

Why we start in healthcare

In healthcare a disposable is often truly needed, and reuse is hard. The requirements are strict. If it works there, the step to other markets is smaller. And the numbers are large. Dutch healthcare alone uses over 50 million plastic medicine cups a year. Estimate (details and source) How we worked it out

What we stand for

Four things we hold on to.

  • Honest about what we know

    Every claim says where it comes from: a study, our own test or a goal. We also say what we do not know yet.

    All sources

  • Healthcare first

    In healthcare, single-use items are often necessary and reuse is difficult. That is where a better cup makes the biggest difference, so that is where we start.

  • Built to scale

    A nice product in the lab is not enough. Everything we do now must also work later, at a million cups a week.

  • Designed to be replicated

    We are not building a factory that exists only once. We design every line so a partner can build it again, anywhere in the world.

Timeline

From a jar in the kitchen to factories all over the world.

Scroll through the years. Up to October 2026 it has happened. After that it is our plan: watch production grow, from one jar to a network of factories.

  1. 2024

    • Tests in the kitchen

      After graduating, Jason grows his first cellulose at home in his kitchen.

    • BlueCity, Rotterdam

      The tests move to BlueCity. Joram joins to turn it into a company. The first product is a straw.

  2. 2025

    • Listening to healthcare

      Around the turn of the year we talk to buyers, hospital pharmacists and nurses at more than 100 healthcare organisations. That is how we arrive at the medicine cup.

    • December: Plastilose becomes a company

      Plastilose Operations B.V. is registered in Rotterdam. Source (details and source)

  3. 2026

  4. Today, October 2026

    This is where we are. Our team consists of two co-founders and five employees. We also have two advisers. Our own data (details and source) We are building the pilot line in Delft.

    From here on it is our plan. These are goals and plans, not forecasts or commitments. They depend on funding and on what we learn on the pilot line. Dates and numbers may change.

  5. End 2026

    • The pilot line runs

      A pilot line for about 10,000 cups a week, under construction in Delft, with the goal of running by the end of 2026. Goal (details and source)

  6. 2027

    • Ready for the next step

      Our manufacturing process is at TRL 4 to 5. TRL is a scale from 1 to 9 that shows how far a technology has developed. We aim to reach TRL 5 in early 2027. Our own data (details and source)

  7. 2028

    • Our own production line

      The line for 1 million cups a week. Our goal is that the first cups come off it at the end of 2028. The plan is our first goal above. Goal (details and source)

  8. 2029

    • More products

      The medicine cup will be followed by a lid, then larger cups and coffee cups, then small trays and kidney dishes. Beyond healthcare we aim to make the first products from 2029. Goal (details and source)

  9. 2030

    • The first factory at a partner

      Our goal is that our own line then runs at full capacity and that a first partner builds a factory with our process. Goal (details and source)

  10. Later

    • Factories all over the world

      Each factory turns local waste streams into disposables without plastic. That is how a network grows, country by country. In the long term we want to make 100 million products a week, on our own lines and with partners. The medicine cup is where it starts. Goal (details and source)

An illustration of our goal. Not a forecast: numbers and years are not fixed.

These are goals and plans, not forecasts or commitments. They depend on funding and on what we learn on the pilot line. Dates and numbers may change.

Joram Boumans

“I want to use my knowledge, privileges and time to leave the world better than I found it.”

That is the main reason I am building Plastilose. This company is my chance to make that real.

Joram Boumans, co-founder

Build with us

Help us build the first factory.

  • For investors

    The plan, the milestones and how to request our pitch deck.

  • For healthcare

    Put your hospital or care organisation on the waitlist for the cup.

  • Careers at Plastilose

    Microbiology, engineering and automation. Help us build our production.

Sources and evidence

Everything we claim on this page, with the source, the conditions and the date we last checked it. Our own testing is marked as Internal test, plans as Goal. So you can check for yourself what each claim rests on.

Show all 19 sourcesHide sources
  1. Goal Our goal is a worldwide network of factories, our own and partners' under licence, that turn waste streams into disposables without plastic.
    Source
    Plastilose (2026)
    Conditions
    This is our vision, not a plan with fixed numbers or years. No factory and no licence exists yet.
    Status
    Goal
    Last checked
    9 October 2026
  2. Our own data Our bacteria grow on side streams from the food industry, not on food itself.
    Source
    Plastilose process documentation (2026)
    Conditions
    We do not disclose which streams.
    Status
    Our own data
    Last checked
    8 October 2026
  3. Goal Our plan is our own production line for 1 million cups a week. We aim for the first cups at the end of 2028 and full capacity in 2030.
    Source
    Plastilose business plan 2026-2036
    Conditions
    This is a plan that depends on financing.
    Status
    Goal
    Last checked
    8 October 2026
  4. Goal The first licence is planned for 2030. After that, partners can build factories with our process, each with a line of 1 million cups a week.
    Source
    Plastilose business plan 2026-2036
    Conditions
    This is a plan, not an agreement. No licence exists yet.
    Status
    Goal
    Last checked
    8 October 2026
  5. Goal In the long term we want to make 100 million products a week, on our own lines and with partners. The medicine cup is where it starts.
    Source
    Plastilose business plan 2026-2036
    Conditions
    This is an ambition, not a forecast.
    Status
    Goal
    Last checked
    8 October 2026
  6. Goal Our goal is a cup that can go in the organic waste after use and become compost.
    Source
    Plastilose (2026)
    Conditions
    This is a goal, not a property of today's cup. Today the cup goes in general waste. We are still testing organic-waste and paper-recycling routes with waste processors. Nothing has been agreed. We do not have a compostability certificate.
    Status
    Goal
    Last checked
    8 October 2026
  7. Estimate Over 50 million plastic medicine cups a year, in Dutch healthcare alone
    Source
    Plastilose market analysis: how many medicine cups does Dutch healthcare use? (2026)
    Link
    plastilose.nl/en/healthcare/market-analysis
    Conditions
    A conservative lower bound. Our own bottom-up estimate comes to 89 to 143 million, with 112 million as the best estimate. Not externally verified.
    Status
    Estimate
    Last checked
    8 October 2026
  8. Source Plastilose started in 2024 when Jason Smit, newly graduated, began experimenting, first in his own kitchen and then at BlueCity in Rotterdam. It was incorporated in December 2025 and is registered in Rotterdam. Its lab and office are at Biotech Campus Delft.
    Source
    Netherlands Chamber of Commerce register; Plastilose business plan, version 4.1
    Conditions
    It began as Jason's own project, not as a university project.
    Status
    Source
    Last checked
    8 October 2026
  9. Our own data Since January 2026 our lab, workshop and office have been at Biotech Campus Delft.
    Source
    Plastilose (2026)
    Conditions
    Our address: Alexander Fleminglaan 1, Delft.
    Status
    Our own data
    Last checked
    9 October 2026
  10. Source Patent pending (Dutch application filed March 2026).
    Source
    Dutch patent application, filed 11 March 2026
    Conditions
    An application is not a granted patent.
    Status
    Source
    Last checked
    8 October 2026
  11. Source A pilot is running at Maasstad Ziekenhuis in Rotterdam, where hospital staff test our cup during the medication round.
    Source
    Maasstad Ziekenhuis press release, 9 April 2026
    Link
    maasstadziekenhuis.nl/nieuws/pilot-medicijncupjes (opens in a new tab)
    Conditions
    No patients take part yet. We share results only after the joint publication with Maasstad, expected in early November 2026.
    Status
    Source
    Last checked
    8 October 2026
  12. Our own data 45+ healthcare organisations and distributors have come to us unprompted since April 2026
    Source
    Plastilose CRM records, October 2026
    Conditions
    Count from our customer system (CRM), cleaned in October 2026: no private individuals, duplicates or lost leads. We did no outreach in that period. Interest is not an order.
    Status
    Our own data
    Last checked
    9 October 2026
  13. Source Winner of the Nieuwe Heldenprijs 2026.
    Source
    Nieuwe Heldenprijs 2026
    Link
    rotterdamseondernemersprijs.nl/2026/06/02/dura-vermeer-wint-rotterdamse-ondernemersprijs-2026 (opens in a new tab)
    Conditions
    Awarded on 2 June 2026.
    Status
    Source
    Last checked
    8 October 2026
  14. Source Selected for the KVK Innovatie Top 100 2026 (Circulaire economie).
    Source
    KVK Innovatie Top 100, 2026
    Link
    kvkinnovatietop100.nl/site/top-100-2026 (opens in a new tab)
    Conditions
    Annual selection by the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce.
    Status
    Source
    Last checked
    8 October 2026
  15. Our own data In October 2026 the first sample cups go to hospitals that are considering a pilot.
    Source
    Plastilose (2026)
    Conditions
    We make them by hand in our Delft lab until the pilot line runs.
    Status
    Our own data
    Last checked
    9 October 2026
  16. Our own data Two founders, five employees and two advisers.
    Source
    Plastilose (2026)
    Conditions
    This is the position as of October 2026.
    Status
    Our own data
    Last checked
    8 October 2026
  17. Goal A pilot line for about 10,000 cups a week, under construction in Delft, with the goal of running by the end of 2026.
    Source
    Plastilose business plan 2026-2036
    Conditions
    This is a target, not current output.
    Status
    Goal
    Last checked
    8 October 2026
  18. Our own data Our manufacturing process is at TRL 4 to 5, with TRL 5 targeted for early 2027.
    Source
    Plastilose internal assessment (2026)
    Conditions
    This is measured against the bioprocess, not the product.
    Status
    Our own data
    Last checked
    8 October 2026
  19. Goal The medicine cup will be followed by a lid, then larger cups and coffee cups, then small trays and kidney dishes. Beyond healthcare we aim to make the first products from 2029.
    Source
    Plastilose business plan 2026-2036
    Conditions
    This is an ambition. The order and timing after the medicine cup are not fixed yet.
    Status
    Goal
    Last checked
    8 October 2026