Piñatex

Leather From Pineapple Scraps – Piñatex was developed by the British company Ananas Anam, a manufacturer of natural textiles from the by-products of the pineapple harvest. With her development, Dr. Carmen Hijosa not only wanted to give an unappreciated waste a use, but also to generate maximum benefit with the smallest possible ecological footprint. The cradle-to-cradle aspect was a[...]

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MILK MaterialLab Ananas Aman Piñatex Dr. Carmen Hijosa MILK-MaterialLab-Ananas-Aman-Piñatex-Dr.-Carmen-Hijosa-7

Alter Eco Foods

Compostable Chocolate Packaging – The goal of the American company Alter Eco Foods, in addition to Fair Trade-Certified production of chocolate products, is to use packaging that is fully compostable. To keep the environmental impact balanced founders Mathieu Senard and Edouard Rollet rely on constantly evolving packaging processes. After years in the making, Gone4Food was introduced, a so-called[...]

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MILK MaterialLab Alterecofoods Mathieu Sonard Edouard Rollet

Ventri – Cow Stomach

Cow Stomach Textured Leather – Dutch designer Billie van Katwijk produces special handbags from cow stomachs using an elaborate tanning process. For her project Ventri, luxurious accessories are created from the slaughterhouse leftovers that were previously processed into dog food. Particularly surprising is the visual appeal and extraordinary texture of the waste product. Accordingly, the different properties of the[...]

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ARBOBLEND

Renewable Raw Based Material – ARBOBLEND consists of many different biologically derived materials, which together form a packaging material. Depending on the combination, ARBOBLEND consists of biopolymers such as polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), polycaprolactone (PCL), polyester (e.g. bio-PET), starch, polylactic acid (PLA), bio-polyolefins (bio-PE), bio-polyamides (bio-PA), lignin, natural resins, waxes, oils, natural fatty acids, cellulose, biological additives and natural reinforcing fibers.[...]

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Agar Plasticity

Packing Based On Seaweed – Agar Plasticity is a materials research project exploring agar as an alternative to synthetic plastics. Agar is a traditional Japanese food that is often used to make sweets. However, it is also used worldwide in the scientific and medical fields. It is sold mainly in dried state in the form of blocks, flakes and[...]

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naturesse

Disposable Tableware Made From Organic Raw Materials – With naturesse, Pacovis produces sustainable disposable tableware and packaging that is plastic-free and 100% biodegradable. The materials processed for naturesse are based on renewable raw materials from the agricultural industry or on rapidly renewable plant-based raw materials such as bamboo. The focus is on a sensible appreciation of fossil resources – with the intention[...]

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MILK MaterialLab Naturesse Pacovis

Styrofoam decomposing mealworms

Plastic-Eating Organisms – While mealworms normally feed on wheat bran, biologists at Stanford University and Peking University have given them polystyrene – a form of plastic foam – instead. Mostly, this material is used for polystyrene packaging, yoghurt cups or cable insulation. In a test experiment, the worms ate the material completely – approx. 40 mg per[...]

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MILK MaterialLab Mehlwürmer Frauenhofer Institut

MonoSol

Water Soluble Film – The material of MonoSol, which is mainly used for the production of detergent pods, can be described as a water-soluble film. The application of the film with these pods offers on the one hand the advantage of easy dosage and on the other hand a dissolving of the film in a short time without[...]

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MILK MaterialLab MonoSol MonoSol

Cartamela Apple Paper

Paper From Apple Scraps – Since 2003, the South Tyrolean company FRUMAT has been drying and grinding the cellulose-containing fruit residues from apple juice production (so-called apple pomace) in order to produce natural paper from them. Nearly half a million tons of these fruit wastes accumulate in the European region every year and, due to their fungal hazard, have[...]

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MILK MaterialLab Car

Bio-Flex

Bioplastic For Flexible Film Applications – Bio-Flex bioplastic is based partly, sometimes entirely, on natural raw materials (e.g. corn, sugar cane or castor oil) and therefore serves various film applications in the food industry. The certified biodegradability allows it to be used in the agricultural industry. Decomposable plant clips are thus a way to plow under the bioplastics without having[...]

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NACHHÄLTER

Wood Cellulose Compostable Packaging – NACHHÄLTER are 100% recyclable and fully compostable packaging solutions whose raw material is created from forestry cuttings. For material recovery, viscose (soluble) is first extracted from the pulp, which is filtered through a pouring nozzle and runs into a precipitation bath, after which a transparent film of pure regenerated cellulose is produced. The Grünkunft[...]

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Chicory Plastic

Plastic From Chicory Waste – Chicory is known as a salad, not so much as a raw material for plastics. The root of the plant usually ends up in the composting plant. Only a fraction is used to produce biogas from it. Researchers at the University of Hohenheim have discovered the chicory root as a resource for obtaining hydroxymethylfurfural[...]

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MILK MaterialLab Chicorée Hochschule Hohenheim