The person
Alexandre Kremer became interested in polymers at an early stage of his chemical engineering studies in Lyon. “I was fascinated by the fact that just a few monomers can create so many different materials,” he says. The Frenchman became aware of the downside—the enormous amounts of plastic waste—while studying chemistry in Vancouver. Ever since then, he has wanted to make plastics recyclable. Kremer completed his third master’s degree—with a focus on “Sustainability and Social Innovation”—in Paris. “That’s where I acquired a strategic and entrepreneurial perspective to go with my specialist knowledge,” he says.
The vision
in 2024, together with the Austrian Andreas Wagner, he founded the Munich-based start-up Radical Dot: “We wanted to get into action,” he says. In a laboratory at TU Munich’s ChemSpace Venture Lab, they developed a chemical recycling process for mixed plastic waste. “We use oxygen to split polymer chains and from these we produce carboxylic acids that then serve as raw materials for new products,” says Kremer. “Our process is fast and energy-efficient.” Radical Dot plans to set up a demonstration plant by 2027, after which it aims to make the transition to industrial application.
ELEMENTS-Newsletter
Receive exciting insights into Evonik’s research and its societal relevance—conveniently by email.