Origin’s Biomaterials Alchemy: Converting Wood Chips Into Real Plastic

Despite operationalization struggles resulting in an ugly stock chart, this California-based company is revolutionizing plastic manufacturing and improving recycling.

Origin co-founder, John Bissell at the Origin Materials 1 biomaterials pilot plant in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada. (Courtesy Origin Materials)

Plastics are essential to modern life, but their convenience comes at a steep environmental cost. They are made by distilling mined hydrocarbons in a refinery—a process that releases carbon dioxide and other pollutant…