Battling Plastics: From Surfboards To Packaging With Cruz Foam's John Felts

To solve the challenge of increasing plastic waste in oceans, we need to go to the source and find alternative materials to the plastics, said John Felts, CEO and co-founder of California-headquartered materials startup Cruz Foam.

"It’s nearly impossible to play catch up on an increasingly flowing faucet of trash. We, obviously, need to try to get out what’s already in there. But the greater avenues of change and impact will come from addressing it on the front end, stopping it from reaching the ocean or even being produced," Felts said.

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In February 2023, Cruz Foam launched a range of packaging products, from its compostable foam to replace plastic bubble wraps, and partnered with Atlantic Packaging to sell the packages.

“When we looked at the opportunity here, the e-commerce space is just exploding,” Felts said.

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