A great honour for the Hamburg-based start-up traceless: the company has been nominated as one of three finalists for the German Future Prize 2025. With its plastic-free packaging solution based on plant-based waste, traceless addresses one of the most pressing challenges facing the packaging industry.
The Hamburg start-up traceless materials has made it to the finals of the German Future Prize 2025 achieved. The award is regarded as one of the most important science prizes in Germany and recognises technologically and socially relevant innovations with market potential.
The traceless solution is aimed specifically at packaging that is difficult to recycle or frequently ends up in the environment - such as films, rigid trays or paper coatings. The company offers a Natural substitute material for plasticswhich consists of plant residues from the agricultural industry without the use of food crops. The material is microplastic-free, garden compostable and Free from questionable additives.
From the laboratory to industrial scale
In recent years, traceless has made the step from laboratory solution to industrial application. Production is currently underway in a pilot plant in Buchholz i.d.N., and construction of the first industrial-scale plant in Hamburg will begin in 2024. It is expected to supply several thousand tonnes of material per year. The scaling-up was supported by the Federal Environment Ministry's Environmental Innovation Programme and the EU EIC Accelerator, among others.
"This nomination comes exactly five years after the company was founded - what a special honour!" writes co-founder Anne Lamp in a post on LinkedIn. In addition to the technology, the award also recognises the path to scaling: "It means breaking new ground, building structures that didn't exist before and proving that ecological and economic goals can go hand in hand."
Technical innovation with industry benefits
Specifically, the nomination is based on a new procedure with which Natural polymers can be utilised as thermoplastics for the first time - can therefore be processed on conventional plastics industry machines. The result is a granulate that can be processed into moulded parts, flexible films or coatings. The innovation thus directly addresses Users from the packaging industrybranded companies or producers of sustainable packaging solutions, for example.
Cooperation partners of traceless include OTTO, Lufthansa and C&A. The first pilot products have been tested in the packaging sector since 2022 .
Award ceremony with the Federal President
The decision on this year's winner will be made on 19 November 2025. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will present the award in person. Together with Anne Lamp, Sina Spingler and Niklas Rambow are also travelling to the award ceremony - they are also part of the core team of the Hamburg start-up.
Regardless of the decision, the nomination is a strong signal for the packaging industry: innovations from the bioeconomy can not only set technological standards, but also offer solutions for a more sustainable future.
