A great win for Great Wrap co-founder
1 July 2022 at 5:40 pm
Fresh from being named Young Victorian of the Year, Julia Kay tells Pro Bono News she plans to advocate for other young women in manufacturing and social impact.
Co-founder of Great Wrap, Julia Kay, has been named Young Victorian of the Year by the Victoria Day Council.
The award is a recognition of her role as a woman in manufacturing, and in creating social impact.
Great Wrap, which opened in 2020, is about paying a debt to the earth. The company makes biodegradable pallet wrapping out of polymerised potato starch and has plans to move into consumer cling wrap soon.
The business was founded after Kay and her husband Jordy, a wine maker and organic farmer, became frustrated at the amount of waste in plastic pallet wrapping.
See also: Compostable cling wrap that breaks down faster than orange peel
Kay said she hopes that she is able to inspire other young women to “just give it a go” and solve the problems they can see.
She wants to see more women in manufacturing and more manufacturing businesses having a positive impact on the world.
“There’s obviously some amazing women [in the sector], but I still feel like there’s not enough of us. I think it would just be amazing to go to an event and there’d be a line in the girls’ bathroom as well as the boys’. I’d really love that!” she laughed.
She plans to use the recognition to advocate for the policies that governments could put in place that impact the future of waste and local manufacturing.
“It’s something I now have got quite a lot of experience in and I’d love to make some changes. I’d just love to be involved in making it easier for other people to start businesses like ours,” Kay said.
She said humans tend to take a lot from the earth in extractive processes, but rarely give back – opening up opportunities for businesses like Great Wrap to make a positive impact on the planet.
“We can actually return things to the planet or return carbon into our soils and keep living in a more sustainable way – it just doesn’t make sense as to why we wouldn’t,” she said.
Great Wrap is also currently working with Monash University researchers to make the polymer marine degradable as well, so that if it does end up in the ocean, it breaks down within 30 days.
