Aquapak Polymers
Aquapak Polymers is a Birmingham-based materials company that manufactures and licenses Hydropol, a patented PVOH-based polymer resin supplied in pellet form to packaging converters and brand owners for marine-safe, recyclable, and compostable garment bags, food packaging, and nonwoven applications.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2008
- HeadquartersBirmingham, United Kingdom
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Aquapak Polymers does
Aquapak Polymers Ltd is a UK-based specialty materials company that develops, manufactures, and commercializes Hydropol, a patented polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH)-based polymer resin technology. Founded in 2008 and headquartered at a 4,700m2 compounding production facility in Birmingham, the company has built a platform of 30 patents over more than 10 years of R&D, producing a water-soluble, marine-safe, non-toxic, biodegradable, compostable, and kerbside-recyclable polymer supplied in pellet form. Hydropol can be processed on existing packaging machinery without capital investment in new equipment, and delivers up to three times the strength of LDPE, FDA-approved food-contact barrier performance, and clean degradation across multiple end-of-life pathways (paper recycling, hot-water dissolution, composting, anaerobic digestion, and marine degradation) without leaving microplastics.
Aquapak monetizes Hydropol through two primary revenue streams: direct B2B sales of polymer resin pellets to packaging converters, extruders, and brand owners, and licensing/royalty income from partners such as Maxim, which produces garment bags under the Polymax brand powered by Hydropol. The company operates a sales-led, channel-driven go-to-market, supported by a global network of regional distributors (Resinex for Europe, Chemtrust, DB Packaging for Australia/New Zealand, Plastribution) and a partner factory network of converters and extruders. Customer segments include Fashion & Retail Brands (primary), Food & FMCG Packaging (primary), Marine & Recreational Vehicle Industry, and Nonwoven & Hygiene Products; named customers include N.Brown Group (JD Williams, Jacamo, Simply Be), Finisterre, Navico Group, Walkers Chocolates, Earth Squared, Zone 3, Parlez, and Caroboo.
Recent commercial momentum is evident from the May 2025 launch of a dissolvable nonwoven wipe material, the November 2024 N.Brown rollout (UK's largest online fashion retailer user of Hydropol), and the October 2025 Navico Group partnership for marine electronics shipping. The company is led by CEO Mark Lapping, CTO Dr John Williams, and COO Tom Barrett, with chairman Guy Broadbent and an advisory board covering circular economy, polymer science, and retail packaging. Aquapak has raised capital from ADM Capital's Cibus Enterprise Fund (2018) and a subsequent Cibus Fund round of approximately $8.89M (January 2021), and is positioning itself as a beneficiary of incoming UK EPR and EU PPWR regulations.
Aquapak Polymers firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Aquapak Polymers
- Legal name
- Aquapak Polymers Ltd
- Website
- https://aquapakpolymers.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2008
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Aquapak Polymers is a Birmingham-based materials company that manufactures and licenses Hydropol, a patented PVOH-based polymer resin supplied in pellet form to packaging converters and brand owners for marine-safe, recyclable, and compostable garment bags, food packaging, and nonwoven applications.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Aquapak Polymers industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Sustainable Polymer Resins & Packaging Materials
- NAICS
- Resin, Synthetic Rubber, and Artificial and Synthetic Fibers and Filaments Manufacturing (3252), Plastics Packaging Film and Sheet (including Laminated) Manufacturing (326112)
- SIC
- Plastic Materials, Synth Resins & Nonvulcan Elastomers (2821), Unsupported Plastics Film & Sheet (3081)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Water-Soluble & Edible Packaging (PVOH-based, Edible Films) (IMALAMAI)
Keywords
Where Aquapak Polymers is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Birmingham
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Aquapak Polymers business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Hydropol Polymer Resin Sales: Aquapak manufactures and sells Hydropol polymer resin pellets to packaging converters, extruders, and manufacturers. The pellets are used on existing production machinery to create films, bags, coatings, and other packaging formats. Revenue is generated from the volume of polymer resin sold to B2B customers.
- Licensing and Technology Transfer: Hydropol technology is licensed to selected partners who produce finished packaging products incorporating the polymer. Partners such as Maxim use the Polymax brand powered by Hydropol to produce garment bags for fashion retailers, generating technology licensing income for Aquapak.
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels8 records
Aquapak Polymers product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Aquapak Polymers manufactures and supplies Hydropol, a patented PVOH-based polymer resin supplied in pellet form to packaging converters, extruders, and brand owners. Hydropol is processed on existing machinery to produce films, garment bags, paper coatings, barrier films, and nonwovens that are water-soluble, marine-safe, non-toxic, biodegradable, compostable, and recyclable without forming microplastics. The platform is used across fashion/retail garment packaging, food and FMCG flexible packaging, and dissolvable hygiene/wet-wipe applications.
Product overview
Aquapak Polymers is a materials technology company offering Hydropol, a patented high-performance polymer as its core product platform. The Hydropol technology serves as the foundational material that enables multiple product applications: Hydropol Polybags for garment packaging, Hydropol Paper Packaging with barrier coatings for food applications, and Barrier Film products. The portfolio also includes specialized Nonwoven materials for wet wipes. All Hydropol-based products share the key characteristic of being dissolvable, recyclable, compostable, biodegradable, and marine-safe without generating harmful microplastics. The company supplies its polymer pellets to converters and extruders who produce finished packaging products on existing machinery.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Hydropol: Patented high-performance polymer technology that is dissolvable, recyclable, compostable and biodegradable, used as an alternative to conventional flexible plastics in packaging applications.
Products and services
- Hydropol Polymer Resin Patented high-performance PVOH-based polymer resin supplied in pellet form to packaging converters and extruders. Processable on existing machinery to produce films, bags, coatings, and nonwovens that are water-soluble, marine-safe, non-toxic, biodegradable, compostable, and recyclable without forming microplastics.
- Hydropol Polybags Garment bags manufactured from Hydropol polymer pellets by converter partners. Marine-safe, dissolvable in hot water, kerbside recyclable, up to 3x stronger than LDPE, transparent, breathable, heat-sealable, and printable. Designed for fashion e-commerce delivery, in-store garment protection, and supply-chain packaging.
- Hydropol Paper Packaging Paper-based packaging incorporating Hydropol barrier coatings for dry food, snack, and confectionery applications. Enables kerbside recyclability with up to 100% fibre recovery in standard paper recycling streams and FDA-approved food contact.
- Barrier Paper Paper-based packaging products with Hydropol-enabled barrier properties for grease resistance, heat-sealability, and moisture protection in food and industrial applications.
- Barrier Film Film-based barrier products manufactured from Hydropol polymer, combinable with paper and other bioplastics to deliver strong, durable, puncture-resistant, anti-static packaging solutions for food and industrial uses.
- Hydropol Nonwoven (Dissolvable Wet Wipe Material) Nonwoven materials manufactured from Hydropol polymer, including a dissolvable wet wipe material that breaks down on contact with water, eliminating plastic fibre pollution in waterways. Targeted at wet wipe and hygiene product manufacturers.
Quantifiable outcome
- If all fashion brands switched garment bags to Hydropol, approximately 25 million tonnes of conventional hard-to-recycle packaging could be prevented from entering the environment each year
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Aquapak Polymers
Customer profileNamed customers8 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
Aquapak Polymers technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature6 records
Aquapak Polymers partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators9 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Aquapak Polymers competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- TotalEnergies Corbion: TotalEnergies Corbion is a 50/50 joint venture producing Luminy PLA bioplastics for packaging, durables and consumer goods. It is a direct competing technology platform to Hydropol for brands seeking bio-based, industrially compostable packaging materials.
- NatureWorks: NatureWorks is the world's largest producer of PLA (polylactic acid) bioplastic (Ingeo brand), supplying into food packaging, food serviceware, and nonwovens. It competes with Hydropol across the same sustainable flexible packaging and emerging nonwoven verticals, including wet-wipe substrates.
- Kuraray: Kuraray is the world's largest producer of PVOH/PVA resins (Poval brand) and a direct upstream comparable to Aquapak, supplying PVOH into films, packaging and industrial applications. It is the most significant incumbent competitor in Hydropol's core chemistry space and represents the primary technology benchmark and pricing pressure for PVOH-based packaging.
- Sekisui Chemical: Sekisui Chemical manufactures PVOH (vinyl alcohol) films and is a long-established supplier into water-soluble packaging, detergent pods and similar applications. It directly overlaps with Aquapak's PVOH-based film technology platform and serves as a deep-pocketed Japanese incumbent in the same chemistry space.
- Novamont: Novamont (Italy) is a leading bioplastics company (Mater-Bi) producing compostable, bio-based resins for flexible packaging, food serviceware, and carrier bags. It competes head-to-head with Hydropol for food and FMCG packaging customers seeking sustainable alternatives to conventional plastic films.
- TIPA: TIPA (Israel) develops fully compostable flexible packaging films for food, fashion and FMCG applications — directly comparable to Hydropol's garment bag and food packaging value proposition. It targets the same brand-owner and converter customers with home-compostable alternatives.
Emerging players
- Danimer Scientific: Danimer Scientific (US) produces PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoate) bioplastic (Nodax brand) for films, coatings, and single-use applications including the recently launched dissolvable wet-wipe substrates. It competes with Hydropol across flexible packaging and the same wet-wipes vertical Aquapak entered in May 2025.
Broad incumbents
- Eastman Chemical: Eastman Chemical is a large US specialty materials company with growing activity in molecular recycling and sustainable polymers. While not a PVOH specialist, it competes for sustainable packaging wallet share through integrated polymer, additive, and recycling portfolios serving FMCG and food packaging customers.
- Mitsubishi Chemical Group: Mitsubishi Chemical Group produces PVOH/PVA specialty polymers and broader bio-based materials as part of a diversified specialty chemicals portfolio. It represents a broad-incumbent competitor with the capital and scale to enter sustainable flexible packaging should PVOH demand accelerate.
Regional players
- Notpla: Notpla (UK) develops seaweed- and plant-based packaging films and sachets as alternatives to single-use plastic. As a UK-based peer in sustainable packaging with comparable B2B sales motion to fashion and food brand customers, it is a natural regional comparable to Aquapak.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Aquapak Polymers social profiles
Digital presenceAquapak Polymers compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
Aquapak Polymers financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Aquapak Polymers leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles8 records
Aquapak Polymers funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Aquapak Polymers M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Aquapak Polymers
What does Aquapak Polymers do?
Aquapak Polymers manufactures and supplies Hydropol, a patented PVOH-based polymer resin supplied in pellet form to packaging converters, extruders, and brand owners. Hydropol is processed on existing machinery to produce films, garment bags, paper coatings, barrier films, and nonwovens that are water-soluble, marine-safe, non-toxic, biodegradable, compostable, and recyclable without forming microplastics. The platform is used across fashion/retail garment packaging, food and FMCG flexible packaging, and dissolvable hygiene/wet-wipe applications.
Is Aquapak Polymers a public or private company?
Aquapak Polymers is a private company. It is classified as private equity controlled and is currently operating.
When was Aquapak Polymers founded?
Aquapak Polymers was founded in 2008. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Aquapak Polymers based?
Aquapak Polymers is headquartered in Birmingham, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Aquapak Polymers make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Hydropol Polymer Resin Sales are the primary driver. The others are licensing and Technology Transfer.
Who are Aquapak Polymers's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are TotalEnergies Corbion, NatureWorks, Kuraray, Sekisui Chemical, Novamont and TIPA. Danimer Scientific is listed as an emerging player. Broad incumbents are Eastman Chemical and Mitsubishi Chemical Group. Notpla is listed as a regional player.
Does Aquapak Polymers have an API?
No public API is recorded for Aquapak Polymers.
What industry is Aquapak Polymers in?
Aquapak Polymers's product category is Sustainable Polymer Resins & Packaging Materials. Its primary akta.pro industry code is IMALAMAI, Water-Soluble & Edible Packaging (PVOH-based, Edible Films). Its NAICS code is 3252 and its SIC code is 2821.