Our Philosophy
Eco-friendly and socially acceptable entrepreneurship
Global environmental pollution by plastic waste is steadily increasing. In 2014, more than 300 million tons of plastics were produced. A big share is related to plastic packaging materials, which contribute to pollution specifically because of their one-time use and extremely long time of degradation. Substituting these materials with bio-degradable products is indispensable.
Besides the long degradation time, the production process of plastics consumes great amounts of energy and resources. That is where alternative bio-based products come into play. The energy and resource demand for production can be reduced drastically when changed to renewable resources and more efficient recycling of waste materials.
Industrial mass production brought plastic a cost advantage over renewables for a long time and has replaced bio-based products from the market. But when internalizing external costs such as environmental pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, this cost advantage is not given anymore. The true costs of plastics in the packaging industry dramatically exceeds the production cost and therefore the total costs for plastic and renewables adapt to each other.
"Our aim must be an eco-friendly economy by reducing the use of plastics!"
We are in close contact to our producers and involve smallholder farmers in our production chain. Intertrop provides market access for those who need it the most: rural smallholders who can benefit by obtaining a higher contract price. Lack of market access is one of the biggest constraints to economic development. National sales in development countries are often not high enough to earn sufficient capital. Therefore, we develop a global network of producers and customers, so that even financially weak producers can participate in our globalized market.
"Our aim must be a socially acceptable economy by complying with highest standards and mutual respect!"
The complete value chain, including growing the raw materials, the production process and transport to the customer must be eco-friendly and socially acceptable. Intertrop pursues a holistic, sustainable and value-creating approach.
© 2015 by INTERTROP
