Part 5/9:
Ambitious Goals for Environmental Impact
Newlight has set an ambitious target: to produce about 20 billion pounds of AirCarbon annually, matching the current plastic flow into oceans. This level of production could significantly displace conventional petroleum-based plastics and contribute to reducing oceanic plastic pollution.
Economic Challenges: Price Parity and Scale
One of the biggest hurdles for biomaterials like AirCarbon is achieving price parity—equaling or undercutting the cost of traditional plastics. Currently, biomaterials are 20 to 50% more expensive than petroleum plastics, owing primarily to the costs associated with scaling manufacturing.