# Zotefoams looking to scale up pilot trials following acquisition (LON:ZTF)

- Link: https://www.directorstalkinterviews.com/zotefoams-looking-to-scale-up-pilot-trials-following-acquisition-lonztf/4121090778
- Published: 2022-11-17T08:07:00+00:00
- Author: Amilia Stone

**Zotefoams plc (LON:ZTF) Group** Chief Executive Officer David Stirling caught 
up with DirectorsTalk to discuss the acquisition of Refour, how it fits in the business,
being able to offer a wide choice of recycling packaging, what Torben Anderson brings
to the business and what investors can expect in the next 6-12 months.

**Q1: ****David, first off, congratulations on the acquisition of the assets and
the intellectual property of Refour. Could you just tell us what’s actually been
acquired?**

**A1**: So, Refour is a company based in Denmark, which was looking to develop mono-
material packaging technology, similar path and intent to our resource application
development within the Zotefoams platform. So, what we’re acquiring is a very experienced
individual who’s been developing this, Torben Anderson, who’s the former CEO of 
Refour, and also assets which will allow us to widen and accelerate our portfolio
development, including extrusion equipment, machinery for forming and filling packaging
etc.

**Q2: Could you talk us through the rationale of the transaction and how it all 
fit with the rest of the business?**

**A2**:  So, the company owns a business called MuCell Extrusion, it’s a small business
at the moment, but has some really great technology focused on improving [sustainability](https://www.directorstalkinterviews.com/sustainability-green-stocks-news)
in the packaging market for mainly food and beverage packaging. The Refour technology
is similar in intent to what we are looking at, using common polymers in a very 
effective way to develop packaging, which is circular and can be used recycled, 
and the packaging itself can use recycled content.

So, really it is very complimentary and the Refour development had been looking 
at areas that hadn’t really been our core focus up to this point so it’s very complimentary.

**Q3: Could you just explain for us how combining the company’s portfolios will 
offer a wide choice of recyclable packaging?**

**A3**: Well, first and foremost, the Zotefoams development had been focused on 
high density polyethylene, and less so on polypropylene, where Refour have much 
more knowhow.

We’d also been focusing on making this using different extrusion equipment than 
Refour and putting those both together allow us to access markets like pouch packaging
for food and beverage much more quickly than we had originally planned.

**Q4: Now, you mentioned Torben Anderson earlier and I see that is joining Zotefoams.
What will he bring to the combined business?**

**A4**: Torben has a huge experience in packaging development and design over many,
many years, and that intimate design knowhow along with industry knowledge is something
particularly in the European market that is very helpful to us.

**Q5: Finally, what can investors expect from this side of the business in the next
6-12 months?**

**A5**: Well, in that timeframe, first and foremost, we are looking to scale up 
our pilot trials of various packaging formats. The most exciting and probably the
closest is in the development of carton technology, so the square carton packs that
you’ll get for juice, milks, etc. That’s something where we are very close to large
scale trials at pre-commercial level and as time goes on, we are focusing on other
formats as well.

So, it’s very much watch the space, with all of these things, every trial you do
takes you closer to the goal, but it is a development process and timelines are 
still a bit uncertain, but we’ve got a high degree of confidence that we’re getting
there.

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