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Chip[s] Board

Material From Potato Scraps – The company name of Chip[s] Board already reveals its main product component – potatoes. The company’s Parblex plastics [PBX] are created from the remains of potato processing, among other abundant resources. To this end, chip manufacturers such as the Canadian producer McCain Foods take their waste to the respective production facilities where the fiber-reinforced[...]

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MILK MaterialLab Chipsboard

Nuclée

Lamp from banana and bamboo fibers – Designer Dorian Etienne learned about a way of processing banana fiber in Hualien, a city on the east coast of Taiwan, and incorporated this method into the design of his lamps. The banana flesh is given a high strength by drying and refining and can therefore be used in many ways. Subsequent sublimation provides[...]

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MILK MaterialLab Nuclée Lampe Dorian Etienne MILK-MaterialLab-Nuclée-Lampe-Dorian-Etienne-5

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

Coffee Cup Paper “Extract”

Decorative Papers From Recycled Coffee-To-Go Cups – How recycled coffee-to-go cups can be turned into attractive paper is demonstrated by the British company G.F Smith with its Extract project. Used disposable coffee cups are separated into their plastic and paper components for production, and in the subsequent step an FSC-certified paper is obtained in collaboration with CupCycling by James Cropper. Approximately[...]

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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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Coconut Water Leather

Leather From Coconut Water – To produce the biodegradable and waterproof Coconut Water Leather, the coconut water, which is a waste product of coconut processing, is sterilized. The natural substance obtained from this serves as a nutrient for the bacterial culture in the subsequent 12-14 day fermentation process. Once the process is complete, the leaf cellulose jelly obtained can[...]

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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

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

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

Bio-Lutions

Tableware From Natural Fibers – BIO-LUTIONS uses only non-consumable raw materials such as banana stems, bagasse and rice straw in their products. By using such bi-products, they are able to abstain from the need for agricultural land. The disposable tableware and packaging solution are manufactured using a mechanical process that eliminates pulp extractions and bleaching. This process is aimed[...]

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VEIO

Textile shells – The scarf series VEIO, processed by turning, was created by Kathin Morawietz’s idea of pressing the layers of old textiles together by a thin layer of glue. In the process, these become a dense block that retains the feel of the fabric and makes it a visually unique piece. Once the material is strong[...]

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MILK MaterialLab Veio Kathrin