About Us
SOLVING THE PLASTIC CRISIS
We have designed novel biopolymers that are sustainable alternatives to conventional plastics both in performance application and cost.
Our Story
Sust-Chem™ was founded to make our disruptive bioplastic technology a commercial reality. We want to transform the plastic industry into one that is sustainable for generations to come.
We started operating in August 2022 with seed funds from a Phase I SBIR grant. We received funding and entrepreneurship training from West Gate and technical support from NREL starting in October 2023 and another Phase I SBIR grant in July 2024. Sust-Chem™ is based in Golden, Colorado. We have de-risked our technology and are ready to commercialize a biopalstic that competes with petrochemical plastic on cost and performance application.
Our Team
Dr. Silvia Luebben, CEO and Founder
Silvia Luebben has dedicated her career to the pursuit of chemical innovations that could reliably and affordably replace the critical and environmentally catastrophic chemicals that we use daily. Silvia founded Sustainable Chemicals™, LLC to realize her dream of radically changing the chemical industry for a greener, more sustainable future. Silvia has over 25 years of experience leading cutting-edge research at both small and large firms and has more than 20 issued or pending patents. Silvia completed her post-doctoral work at Colorado State University, and she attained her PhD in macromolecular science from the Scuola Normale Superiore of Pisa (Italy).
Jonathan Stokely, MBA, CRO
Jonathan is an experienced business executive and entrepreneur. Jonathan was the co-founder of an incubator and accelerator that raised over $26M for 28 different mission-driven organizations. He also has experience at fast-growing startups such as Groupon, and large corporations such as Deutsche Bank and CME Group. Jonathan holds an MBA from the University of Colorado Boulder Leeds School of Business, where he concentrated in Finance and Entrepreneurship. Additionally, Jonathan has worked in venture capital and cleantech consulting firms specializing in DeepTech & FOAK startups.
Dr. Anthony Brockway, Vice President of Chemistry
A.J. holds both a B.S. in Chemistry and a PhD. in Chemistry from the University of California, Davis. He has more than 17 years of experience as a synthetic organic chemist in areas spanning organic reaction methodology development, natural product total synthesis, polymer chemistry, polymer drug conjugation, and medicinal chemistry. He performed postdoctoral research in medicinal chemistry at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, TX prior to beginning his industrial career as a medicinal chemist in the biotechnology sector. He worked as a synthetic medicinal chemist for Nektar Therapeutics in San Francisco, CA for more than six years before joining Pfizer in Boulder, CO for more than one year. He joined Sust-Chem in April 2024 and is excited to develop Sust-Chem’s platform to deliver sustainable solutions to the worldwide plastic crisis. He is a co-author on seven peer-reviewed publications and is a co-inventor on one patent.
Ryan Anderson, Senior Principal Chemist
Ryan received his MS in Organic Chemistry at Colorado State University and BA in Chemistry at North Carolina State University. With almost 10 years of experience performing synthetic organic chemistry research, Ryan has a proven track record of success, appearing on three peer-reviewed publications and five patents. He’s contributed to many significant R&D initiatives, including discovering and scaling-up the API at Vast Therapeutics, a startup biotech company, which resulted in achieving IND regulatory approval. Most recently, he worked as a medicinal chemist at Pfizer Boulder R&D for three years in oncology drug discovery. He joined Sust-Chem in October 2024 with a desire to bring innovative and sustainable solutions to the global plastic waste crisis.
Leo Jiang, MBA, Chief Financial Officer
Leo is a finance executive with startup experience in the climate tech, robotics, and aerospace and defense sectors. He started his professional career with Ernst & Young, focused on auditing, moved to KPMG to specialize in M&A advisory for PE and strategic buyers and sellers, transitioned to post-closing M&A advisory for founders and investors with complex transactions and disputes, and then moved to internal finance leadership roles at various startups building best-in-class finance organizations and advising founders and investors. Leo holds both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Accounting from the University of Denver, is a licensed CPA, and a CFA charterholder. He lives in Denver with his architect wife and two children.
Dr. Jack Ferrell, Board of Advisors
Jack obtained his PhD in Chemical Engineering at Colorado School of Mines. He has over 20 years of R&D research experience in electrochemistry, biomass conversion, and carbon dioxide utilization. Jack is currently a Research Engineer at NREL.
Dr. Steve Tregay, Board of Advisors
Steve received his doctoral and Master’s degrees in organic chemistry from Harvard University and a Bachelor’s from Davidson College. He has been the founder and CEO of several companies. He has been involved in R&D and business development throughout his career. Steve focuses on new therapeutics investments with a particular emphasis on company creation opportunities.
Dr. Alan Dyke, Board of Advisors
Alan received his MSci and PhD in Organic Chemistry the University of Bristol. He has many experiences including serving as Vice President of Business Development at ProChem Inc. He oversees the commercial operations of ProChem, a leading supplier of high purity inorganic compounds and custom precursors for advanced materials applications. He also supports the new investments in laboratories, analytical services, and management systems. Alan is also a Senior Advisor for Saoradh Enterprise Partners and is on the Board of Governors at the Society of Chemical Manufacturers & Affiliates® (SOCMA).
Our Mission & Approach
noveOur Mission
Our core mission at Sustainable Chemicals is to solve the catastrophic plastic pollution crisis worldwide by leading a fundamental transformation of the $243.4 billion polyolefin plastics market. We are dedicated to replacing conventional petrochemical plastics and overcoming the critical failure of current bioplastics to achieve commercial scale. Simply put, our goal is to develop and commercialize innovative bioplastics that match or exceed the cost and performance of conventional plastics, while being 100% renewable and fully biodegradable.
Our Approach
Our approach is to fundamentally change the bioplastics market with Replose™, our patented, next-generation biopolymer. We employ a novel, high-yield, non-fermentation chemical pathway that converts plant-based feedstock into a material engineered to be a direct “drop-in” replacement for LDPE. Critically, this technology is projected to beat petrochemical plastic at scale, removing the economic barrier to mass adoption, while also matching its performance application. This guarantees the environmental integrity of a fully biodegradable, microplastic-free solution.