Green Boom is the leading manufacturer of zero polypropylene, biomass only, completely hydrophobic, oil-only absorbents.
Interview with Nicholle Wersland, President & Global COO at Green Boom.
Easy Engineering: A brief description of the company and its activities.
Nicholle Wersland: Green Boom brings a new way to view oil spill cleanups. Before, oil absorbents have been made with single-use plastic, plastic that after use has been sent to landfill and never fully goes away. Green Booms patented oil absorbents are the first and only that can offer a zero waste solution and therefore can reduce the 50.000 lbs of plastic waste that is being used for oil spills every day. The family of products are certified by EPA and USDA for being 100% Biobased, and is bioprefferd, introducing the first real innovation that moves oil spillage solutions into the biodegradable domain capturing COP SDGs 14 (water) & 15 (land).
Dr. Sudhir Sharma was at the time a PhD student in Chemical engineering, together with his professor Dr. Yulin Deng they saw the enormous amounts of plastic waste being generated by oil spill cleanups and thought that there must be a more sustainable way. After years of testing and research they came up with a way to mimic the plastic absorption capacity, but by only using natural materials.
E.E: What are the main areas of activity of the company?
N.W: Green Boom source all materials locally and manufacture in Duluth outside of Atlanta. All the materials are made from natural and renewable ingredients, that are 100% compostable.
E.E: What’s the news about new products/services?
N.W: All our products are 100% renewable and the only of its type on the market Worldwide. This category of product hasn’t seen a significant innovation in sustainability in many years and this is a monumental change in its product line. No other oil-only absorbents have a full circular lifecycle or is made solely of compostable materials.
E.E: What are the ranges of products/services?
N.W: We have two major ranges is our oil-only absorbents available in booms, pillows, loose sorbent, mats, socks and a variety of spill kits. We also offer our oil degrading microbes Oily™ that eats the oil, making it untraceable in just as couple of weeks.
E.E: What is the state of the market where you are currently active?
N.W: The market has for long been stagnated, without questioning the conventional ways. However, with our solution people are instantly understanding the need and are interested in the new technology. We are entering the market as we speak with full stocking positions at Lawson products and Home Depot. Green Boom can also be acquired via Grainger and Fastenal in the coming weeks. Saty connected to our LinkedIn and Instagram pages for up-to-date new buying locations.
E.E: What can you tell us about market trends?
N.W: Government regulations are getting tighter around reductions of use for single-use plastics worldwide. For example, the Biden administration has announced a plan to phase out all single-use plastic products from National Park land by 2032 and instead identify biodegradable products. Canada and the EU is also moving towards banning all single use plastic. For now it only includes a small segment of bottles, bags and cutlery, but we are yet to see how also the oil spill cleanup industry will be affected. As of now, Green Boom is the only company that complies with this.
However, not only do we see these trend on a governmental level, companies and individuals also have a more sustainable mindset, seeking for alternative solutions. Green Boom brings an easy switch, as the absorbents are used the same way as traditional, plastic absorbents, but the materials are 100% biodegradable and user have the option to not generate any waste. With less waste also comes savings on disposal, transportation and regulatory costs.
E.E: What are the most innovative products/services marketed?
N.W: The Green Boom spill kits include everything the user might need for a smaller oil spill, both to absorb the oil, but also to properly dispose of it in-house. If a spill were to occur, the absorbents quickly soak it up and after they have been saturated, they can be placed in the same container as they came in, add Oily™ our oil degrading microbes and the absorbents and saturated oil will be gone in just a few weeks. So, all of the materials, including the container has a sustainable purpose. Oily™ can eat away your Green Boom oil filled absorbent in as little as 8 weeks, gone, done, ready for compostable pile!
E.E: What estimations do you have for the beginning of 2024?
N.W: Up until this point we have mostly focused on R&D, supply chain optimization and market analysis to get an understanding of the industry and how to position our products for the best attraction. Now is when the fun part begins. Only within these first months of 2024 Green Boom has signed national distribution agreements with Grainger, Home Depot, Fastenal, and Lawson Products, to name a few. The attraction we have received is extremely positive and needless to say, we will be busy.