Today, sustainability isn’t just a choice—it’s a necessity for the future of our planet.
Understanding that sustainability is the need of the hour, Manuel Rendon, the visionary CEO behind Timeplast, has dedicated his career to redefining the plastics industry. Starting as an Environmental Health and Safety leader at PepsiCo, Manuel’s innovative mindset led to the discovery of groundbreaking chemical pathways that inspired him to establish Timeplast in 2013.
Guided by a mission to combat the global microplastics crisis, Manuel’s leadership has driven the development of patented, water-soluble materials designed to replace conventional plastics—taking humanity one step closer to a sustainable future, harmonizing technology with the planet’s natural chemistry—addressing one of the most pressing environmental challenges of today.
Revolutionizing The Plastic Industry
Manuel Rendon began his journey at PepsiCo, where he worked initially in Venezuela and later advanced to the role of International Coordinator for Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) systems—ultimately working in Plano, Texas. While collaborating with Brad Rogers, then the Packaging Discovery Director for Global PepsiCo, Manuel identified innovative chemical pathways that could transform the industry. This realization sparked the decision to leave PepsiCo and establish Timeplast.
Timeplast’s initial breakthrough came with its first patent, which focused on chemical recycling—a concept that was later acquired by Nestlé Waters of North America. Building on this foundation, Timeplast shifted its focus from providing services to creating products, culminating in the development of a portfolio of patented materials designed to replace conventional plastics. These materials stand out for their unique composition: they are alcohol-based and 70% hydrolyzed, meaning that 70% of their mass is water.
Explaining this innovation, Manuel highlights how, despite appearing dry, the materials are designed to mimic nature’s water-rich structures, such as leaves, the human body, and the Earth’s surface, which are all predominantly water-based. This contrasts with conventional plastics, which are completely non-polar and devoid of water. By integrating water as a universal solvent, Timeplast’s materials are polar and aligned with the Earth’s natural chemistry, representing a groundbreaking approach to sustainable material science.
Overcoming The Obstacles
Timeplast faced several challenges in its journey to revolutionize the plastics industry, particularly in terms of competition, consumer mindset, and cost-effectiveness. Here’s how Timeplast has addressed them:
1. Competing with Established Players
- Challenge: Conventional plastics manufacturers dominate the market due to their extensive scale and ability to produce plastics at extremely low costs.
- Solution: Timeplast leverages its innovative technology that incorporates 70% water, which holds the potential to significantly reduce production costs in the future. Although Timeplast’s costs are currently higher, this approach positions the company for long-term competitiveness once production scales up.
2. Consumer Mindset Shift
- Challenge: Educating consumers about the limitations of conventional “sustainable” plastics, such as biodegradable or bio-based plastics like PLA (polylactic acid), which are often misleading in their environmental benefits. Many consumers are unaware of the continued microplastification problem caused by these materials.
- Solution: Timeplast focuses on spreading awareness about the advantages of water-soluble materials. Their technology introduces the concept of programmed obsolescence, where the material’s lifespan is pre-determined, ensuring it dissolves without harming the environment. This requires continuous education and marketing efforts to shift consumer behavior and acceptance.
3. Industry Focus on Biodegradability
- Challenge: The industry’s current focus on biodegradability and bio-based solutions has created a trend that ignores more sustainable alternatives, like Timeplast’s water-soluble technology.
- Solution: Timeplast sets itself apart by emphasizing polarity and water solubility as the true gold standard of sustainability. By showcasing their innovative approach, the company has carved a niche with little direct competition in their category.
4. High Initial Costs
- Challenge: Timeplast’s materials are currently 2-3 times more expensive than conventional plastics, making it challenging to compete in price-sensitive markets.
- Solution: The company views this as a temporary issue, aiming to lower costs as production scales up. Additionally, they highlight the long-term environmental and economic benefits of their materials to justify the initial investment.
Helping Humanity Transition
The key values and principles guiding Timeplast’s journey are deeply rooted in a visionary goal: helping humanity transition to a Type 1 civilization as defined by the Kardashev scale. This framework, used by physicists to conceptualize advanced civilizations, categorizes a Type 1 society as one that harnesses planetary-scale resources, controls the weather, builds cities in oceans, and relies on sustainable energy.
Currently, our society is at Type 0, with some estimates placing us at 0.9. However, the path to becoming a Type 1 civilization faces significant existential threats, among which Manuel Rendon identifies plastic pollution—specifically microplastic pollution—as a critical obstacle.
Microplastics, Manuel Rendon explains, are materials that repel water at a molecular level, fundamentally incompatible with the planet’s natural cleaning system—water. Unlike past environmental toxins, such as lead, which could be mitigated due to their polar nature, microplastics accumulate indefinitely in living organisms. This growing crisis is evident in microplastics now found in human veins, with mothers passing increasing concentrations to their unborn children, generation after generation.
Timeplast aims to address this existential challenge by changing the core chemistry of plastics from non-polar to polar. By aligning materials with the planet’s water-driven chemistry and evolutionary dynamics, the company seeks to create a sustainable solution to microplastic pollution.
Approach to Innovation
Timeplast’s approach to innovation in the plastic manufacturing sector is defined by its focus on adapting materials to existing manufacturing systems—ensuring a seamless transition to sustainable practices. Rather than requiring entirely new manufacturing infrastructure, Timeplast has engineered a plug-and-play solution. This allows their materials to be utilized with current technologies such as extrusion, blow molding, injection molding, thermal forming, and even 3D printing.
This adaptability contrasts sharply with traditional methods, where bio-based plastics are often blended with conventional plastics to achieve compatibility, compromising sustainability. Timeplast’s materials are designed to fully replace conventional plastics without sacrificing efficiency or quality, presenting a revolutionary shift in material science.
One standout example of their innovation is their newly developed 4D filament system for the 3D printing community. This filament enables users to program the time it takes for printed objects to dissolve in the presence of water, demonstrating both flexibility and sustainability.
Timeplast’s portfolio features three distinct categories of materials:
- Active: Dissolves immediately upon contact with water but retains flexibility, unlike the brittle nature of competing materials like PVA.
- Delayed: Dissolves after an extended period, offering greater versatility for applications requiring longer use.
- Passive: Takes the longest to dissolve, enabling practical uses like straws that remain intact for up to 10 hours in beverages but degrade sustainably post-use.
Reimagining Sustainability Objectives
Timeplast integrates eco-conscious practices into its operations by reimagining sustainability goals through a focus on water solubility as the gold standard for environmental stewardship. Unlike traditional approaches that emphasize biodegradability—a process criticized by Timeplast for its potential to release harmful amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere—the company prioritizes maintaining the planet’s balance of solid and gas-phase carbon.
5 Key Elements of Timeplast’s Eco-Conscious Practices:
1. Water Solubility Over Biodegradation:
Timeplast champions water solubility as the optimal solution for addressing plastic waste. By leveraging water, the planet’s universal solvent, their materials dissolve into harmless byproducts, significantly reducing the ecological footprint. This approach contrasts with conventional plastics, which remain unaffected by water and contribute to long-term pollution.
2. Innovative Post-Consumer Waste Management – The Pabyss:
To address post-consumer waste, Timeplast developed the Pabyss, a patented molecular disintegrator. This device, likened to a “bottomless trash can,” utilizes water reactions to break down polar plastics into hydroxyl groups and other benign byproducts. Metals and organic components are separated during the process, offering a comprehensive solution for waste management that mitigates environmental harm.
3. Preventing Carbon Phase Transformation:
Timeplast’s practices are designed to preserve the natural balance between solid and gas-phase carbon. By avoiding biodegradation and promoting water solubility, the company ensures that carbon remains in its stable, solid form rather than being released as atmospheric carbon, which could accelerate climate change.
4. Leveraging the Planet’s Cleaning Systems:
The company highlights the vast capacity of Earth’s water systems—321 million cubic miles of ocean—to dilute and neutralize dissolved materials, even in trace quantities. Timeplast materials are engineered to complement this natural cleaning mechanism—ensuring their environmental impact is minimal.
5. Holistic Approach to Innovation:
Timeplast integrates sustainability into its material science innovations without requiring significant infrastructure changes. Its plug-and-play materials enable manufacturers to adopt eco-conscious practices seamlessly—eliminating the need for costly system overhauls.
Pioneering Sustainable Plastic Alternatives and Recycling
Timeplast has implemented several innovative initiatives and strategies to minimize plastic waste and promote recycling, emphasizing eco-friendly practices and advanced material science:
1. Timeplast Raw Material
- Timeplast’s signature product is its raw material, designed for manufacturers to create eco-conscious products while integrating sustainable practices seamlessly.
- The material is unique in its ability to be chemically upcycled or recycled using only water, eliminating the need for toxic solvents commonly used in conventional chemical recycling.
2. Development of Eco-Friendly Products
Timeplast offers a range of sustainable products, including:
- Stretch Films and Wraps: Designed for industrial and consumer use with eco-conscious properties.
- 3D Printing Filaments: Providing sustainable options for additive manufacturing.
- Fishing Lines and Straws (upcoming): These products aim to address waste in industries known for single-use plastics.
3. Promotion of Water-Based Recycling
- Timeplast’s materials can be recycled or upcycled through a simple water-based process, which is a significant improvement over traditional methods that rely on harmful chemicals.
4. Encouraging Versatile Applications of Timeplast Materials
- By offering their raw material to businesses, Timeplast enables innovators to develop diverse, sustainable products. This flexibility supports industries in reducing their environmental impact while fostering creativity and eco-conscious design.
5. Focus on Consumer and Industrial Awareness
- Timeplast actively promotes the benefits of its materials and products, educating consumers and businesses on the importance of sustainable practices and the superiority of water-based recycling solutions.
Staying Ahead of The Curve
Timeplast stays ahead of market trends and regulatory changes through innovation, adaptability, and strategic foresight. With increasingly stringent European legislation targeting not only conventional plastics but also many bio-based alternatives due to concerns about greenwashing, Timeplast has positioned its technology as a game-changer.
By creating a water-soluble material that represents a drastic departure from traditional plastics, the company aims to redefine its classification as organic waste rather than plastic waste in the future. While achieving this goal requires extensive testing and certifications, Timeplast is committed to proving its material’s environmental credentials.
Despite operating with a limited budget, the company is leveraging its exponential growth, experiencing a 6,000% month-over-month increase in sales in December 2024—to invest in these critical areas. By focusing on true sustainability and addressing the root causes of plastic pollution, such as microplastification, Timeplast differentiates itself from competitors reliant on incremental innovations or greenwashing tactics. This proactive approach ensures the company aligns with current and future regulatory demands, solidifying its position as a leader in sustainable materials.
The Key Role of Leadership
The leadership team at Timeplast has played a crucial role in driving the company’s success and innovation. At the helm, Manuel Rendon provides the overarching vision and technological expertise, while partners contribute key skills across various areas. Manny Menendez, a well-known entrepreneur in South Florida and a mental health professional, has been instrumental in managing the business side of the company.
This combination of expertise in plastic polymer science, environmental engineering, and business management has allowed the Timeplast team to successfully innovate in the sustainable materials sector. As the company continues to expand, the team is confident in its future potential, with plans to bring in additional key members to support further growth and success.
Vision for The Future
As the CEO of Timeplast, Manuel Rendon envisions a future where plastic waste is no longer a global challenge but an opportunity for innovation. His goal is to revolutionize the management of plastic waste by creating water-soluble plastics—providing a simple and effective solution to plastic pollution. Timeplast’s mission is to scale these eco-friendly materials for both consumer and industrial use, with a strong focus on single-use plastics and packaging materials.
Looking ahead, Rendon sees municipal waste facilities using Timeplast’s technology to efficiently treat plastic waste. Imagine a system similar to wastewater treatment plants, where post-consumer plastic waste is processed in a water reactor, converting it into safe, recyclable water. This breakthrough could solve the challenges faced by recycling facilities, particularly with materials like polyethylene, PET, and plastic bags, which are often difficult to recycle.
One of the most promising aspects of Timeplast’s vision is the potential to transform products like plastic bags. Currently, plastic bags are a major recycling headache due to their lightweight nature—causing them to clog machinery. However, with Timeplast’s technology, these bags could be recycled efficiently, using minimal energy and making them far more sustainable.
Manuel Rendon is driven by a profound vision for humanity’s future. He has expressed a strong desire to meet with Elon Musk, believing that such a conversation could have a transformative impact on global progress. He envisions a paradigm shift at the societal level, one that could play a pivotal role in advancing humanity toward a type 1 civilization—a future where we harness resources sustainably and collaboratively on a planetary scale.
Timeplast is already taking steps to bring this vision to life. Rendon believes that with the right support, Timeplast can tackle plastic waste in ways that have never been possible before, and the company is dedicated to making this vision a reality.
Making A Difference
Manuel emphasizes that there are alternatives to conventional plastics that can truly make a difference in the world. Timeplast’s solutions, particularly those that are water-soluble, offer a revolutionary approach to addressing plastic waste. Considering that our own bodies are primarily made of water, it’s concerning to learn that microplastics have been found in our lungs, heart tissue, and arteries, says Manuel.
So, the question becomes: would we prefer materials that repel water or those that, like sugar alcohols, are molecularly broken down by water?
This is the fundamental shift Timeplast is advocating for. The company’s mission is rooted in driving a fundamental shift toward sustainability and safety. Under the leadership of Manuel, the company is committed to developing materials that are not only environmentally friendly but also safer for human health.
To conclude, Manuel Rendon emphasizes that viable, eco-friendly alternatives to conventional plastics do exist, and by embracing them, consumers can contribute to creating a positive and lasting impact on the planet.
