In 2020, the privately owned company was the first to achieve certified biodegradation of the most commonly-littered forms of plastic packaging in real-world conditions, in less than a year without creating microplastics.

[6] In October 2019, Polymateria announced a partnership with specialty chemical company Clariant to bring its new Biotransformation technology to the Southeast Asian market.

[7] A subsequent partnership agreement between Polymateria, Clariant and the Indian Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers announced in January 2020 aims to bring Biotransformation to India.

Alongside the investment, several people joined the Polymateria board, including PFP head Frédéric de Mévius and former Marks & Spencer CEO Marc Bolland as chairman.

[9][10][11] The same month, it was reported that Puma would be the first company to use Polymateria's technology in the 160 million plastic bags it used each year, starting September 2020 in Southeast Asian markets, and in Britain in 2021.

[17] Electric racing series Extreme E revealed in March 2021 its partnership with Polymateria, which will supply cups and food packaging for the event, and later collect these for recycling.

[18] In April 2021, FiberVisions and Avgol, two companies owned by Thai Indorama Ventures, partnered with Polymateria,[19] planning to apply the technology to their nonwoven fabrics, which are used for products like face masks and diapers.

[41] Ecologist Dannielle Green of Anglia Ruskin University, who was involved in validating the standard, called it a "step in the right direction" and praised the "interdisciplinary collaborative approach" taken by the BSI.

[16] The BSI standard was criticised on 22 October 2020 in an open letter by a group of 40 organizations, including Tesco, Aldi and the Environmental Services Association.

[16] Environmental organizations that have criticized the BSI standard have included the WWF and Keep Britain Tidy, which voiced concerns that degradable plastics would increase littering.

"[34][Note 4] The BSI has responded by calling littering "illegal" and a "complex behavioural issue", voicing doubts that any standard would be able to "control how a member of the public acts".