Reflow’s approach to making an impact? Start with what’s already there
A conversation with Jasper Middendorp of Reflow
Over the last decade, 3D printing has shaken up the manufacturing world, dramatically increasing efficiencies and democratizing production processes. As the industry was first gaining speed, Reflow saw an opportunity to make it even more impactful. That opportunity lied in waste. The startup began transforming recycled plastic into new, high-quality 3D printing filament. Their mission is to eliminate plastic pollution by creating sustainable materials that, in turn, enable creators to make outstanding circular products.
We caught up with Reflow’s co-founder, Jasper Middendorp, to hear how this Netherlands based company has evolved from its origins in Dar es Salaam and Delhi a little over five years ago. He shares how they measure and consider their impact and why he thinks most businesses already have a social impact they can scale.
Tell me about the origins of Reflow. Where did the idea come from?
My dad ran a milling factory, so I grew up between these big machines chunking away at large pieces of iron. While I never quite got into that, I was always fascinated by technology. Around eight years ago, I went to a conference on 3D printing. Suddenly, instead of these really big machines with complex parts, there were these small, fairly easy-to-use printers that anyone could make products with. After that, I started working with 3D printing in various ways. I saw that there were a lot of developments with the printers and software behind them, yet very little development with the materials. For the first few years, people were using this toxic ABS plastic that was actually fairly hard to print with, bad for your health and even worse for the environment.
Everything came together around five years ago when I got the opportunity to work at Enviu, an incubator for social enterprises in Rotterdam. I had been walking around with this idea about sustainable 3D printing materials for a long while, and there I was able to develop it. We collaborated on a project with the World Bank, TechforTrade, and RVO to start making 3D printing filament from recycled materials in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Delhi, India. 3D printing holds a lot of potential in these places as the manufacturing industries there are still nascent and there is a heavy reliance on imported products. We worked together with local partners to create a range of products, from microscopes to design objects. Part of this project was about working closely with waste collectors to find ways to upcycle their waste through 3D printing and divert the margin back to these struggling communities. Essentially, we were looking at how we could jumpstart a circular economy in a struggling economy. This was the origin of ReFlow.
Can you tell me more about your decision to pivot away from working with waste collectors in Dar es Salaam and other developing markets?
One of the difficulties was not having boots on the ground in these places, and we realized that from an impact perspective we were trying to accomplish too many different goals at once — around the circular economy, sustainable recycling, waste pickers, 3D printing in developing countries, job creation, etc. That prompted us to look at what we could do best and where our networks and partners were. We saw that we could have the biggest impact on the circular economy and sustainability in 3D printing in the European market because no one was really doing that well.
We started by developing an rPETG 3D printing material made out of waste from medical tray production. Since then, we’ve launched an rPLA filament made from food packaging and are currently working on materials made from recycled fishing nets and carpets. We also work directly with sustainable brands to upcycle their waste streams. We’ve worked with companies such as KLM to repurpose their in-flight bottle waste and Ace & Tate to find new uses for their discarded plastic lenses.
“We realized, from an impact perspective, that we were trying to accomplish too many different goals at once.”
What is the vision for Reflow?
Our primary focus is to produce sustainable, high-quality 3D printing materials at the same price point as conventional materials so that sustainable materials become the go-to for our market. Beyond that, I think there’s a lot of interesting impacts to be had in the next two years around the circular economy and local manufacturing, with the recycling of old or end-of-life products.
How do you measure your impact?
We look at three things.
1. CO2 saved: Before we develop a material, we do a CO2 comparison and a life cycle analysis to see what it costs to create a virgin filament as compared to a recycled filament. Since more than 99% of the market is unrecycled filament, we assume that every product we sell replaces a virgin filament product.
2. Our waste percentage: For every kilogram of filament we make, we save .96 kg of waste, as approximately 96% of our products come from recycled waste.
3. Material innovation: We work on new processes and ways of either recapturing old products or finding ways that we can make 3D printing less wasteful. We’re looking at what this all means long-term. What does it mean to set up a small-scale, circular ecosystem? How does 3D printing play a role in that? One example of this is the work we’re doing through our DURAPRINT project. We were granted a European Subsidy to develop two types of sustainable filament to create a fully circular system. We will be transforming plastics that typically cannot be recycled into new plastic through a process called PET monomer recycling and developing the first filament from PEF, a bio-based plastic.
How is the topic of impact considered in the Reflow offices? Do you have specific impact meetings or is it something that’s integrated into your normal processes?
It’s a normal part of our metrics. Most of our discussions around impact happen on the longer-term projects we’re starting. We might talk about why we would use a biodegradable material versus another material. Sometimes the answer is easily quantifiable in terms of the amount of CO2 saved, and sometimes, it’s a deeper discussion. For example, we recently talked about offering our clients the option of bringing back their old or unused filament to recycle their end-of-life products, which is core to our mission. Determining how this shift from linear to circular manufacturing would work quickly became complex. You have to think about the sustainability impacts at each different point of the supply chain and benchmark it to an industry that is vastly different. In this sense, a strong mission and vision of what you hope the world will look like can guide decisions where data alone would fall short.
“A strong mission and vision of what you hope the world will look like can guide decisions where data alone would fall short.”
Reflow was founded with a clear mission. What advice would you give to an organization that wasn’t founded with impact in mind necessarily?
Maybe it’s a weird stance, but I think most businesses already have a social impact, they just don’t put it first. Take a bank, for instance. This is typically not what comes to mind when we think of a social impact business, but I wouldn’t have been able to buy my house and have a stable place to raise my children without one. I think there’s a lot of potential impact within companies that people often don’t see. This is usually due to inherent elements of how companies, especially publicly listed ones, are structured, where shareholder interest is the main priority. Both for economic as well as legal reasons like fiduciary responsibility, social impact is often lower on the priority list.
With that said, I believe all businesses can change if there’s sufficient will. You don’t have to reboot everything. It’s often about making small changes that can really help. Unilever is an example of a company that wasn’t focused on social impact a few decades ago but has been able to make a big impact by doing things differently, one step at a time. They still have a lot to learn, but I think that works across the board. Whether you’re a financial company, a manufacturing company or a plastics company, there’s a lot you can do to make sure that your next generation of products or services is better than your previous one.
“Maybe it’s a weird stance, but I think most businesses already have a social impact, they just don’t put it first.”
This gets into the question of how to define an impact company. Have you thought about that at Reflow?
I don’t think it’s as black and white as we try to frame it sometimes. There’s a sliding scale — it depends on the people in the organization and how they drive it in certain directions. Generally, one of the things you’ll see in a social business is that everyone’s aligned around the same purpose, and that purpose is as important or more important than the financial motives of the company. That’s key: this balance between the financial incentives and purpose. That’s not to say that there aren’t trade-offs. I just don’t think those trade-offs are zero-sum games. Often, they are trade-offs around short-term vs. long-term gain and between internalizing vs. externalizing the environmental costs of a product. What makes an impact-first company different is that the people in the organization are trying to think through what the outcomes of their products are and what that means for the market and wider world. I’m hoping this idea of an impact company will become less and less walled off and soon it won’t seem like we’re doing anything special here at Reflow. It will simply be the way proper business is done.
“What makes an impact-first company different is that the people in the organization are trying to think through what the outcomes of their products are and what that means for the market and wider world.”
Has the social impact component of Reflow been an advantage or disadvantage in garnering investment?
It kind of evens out. On the one hand, you have a narrower pool of investors to focus on, on the other, the investors that are interested are more deeply interested and there is some pre-selection in company-investor fit. We’ve been incredibly lucky with the investors that have supported us since the start, both family and friends and impact-first angel investors. They have been really focused on helping us achieve our impact potential and have been amazingly helpful in helping us navigate the uncertainty of starting a new company with a unique product in a dynamic market. We’re starting our next funding round in Q2 of 2021 and would love to hear from anyone interested in joining our journey.
What do you think it will take for more companies to consider their impact and prioritize that?
Part of it is self-awareness — getting people to reflect on what is necessary for them to move in that direction, personally, in their careers, and also by spending their money in the right places. Another part of it is recognizing that prioritizing impact is difficult because of how the world is structured and our current financial incentives. That’s where things like creating legal entities for social enterprises and getting companies to take their externalized environmental costs into consideration will go a long way. These changes need to happen genuinely, with a long-term perspective. In the end, impact only works when it lines up with profits and when there are leaders willing to support the mission in good and bad times.
I’ll be the optimist here, but I believe that 99% of people like to make the right choice if they are given the option. We can find ways to leverage that by creating good products that are indistinguishable or better than conventionally made ones so that people don’t have to change their behavior. It’s also about getting people to spend their time wisely. A lot of talent in startups and corporations is wasted in chasing high growth and high valuations, instead of focusing on products that move the world forward. We’ve already seen a big shift in thinking within the last decade, and I’m hoping that trend continues.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
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