In Barcelona, Manel Echevarria has taken the reins at Ananas Anam and plans to guide the vegan leather maker to new growth avenues in fashion, interior design, and automotive. Ananas Anam produces a leather alternative (Piñatex) and fiber (Piñayarn) from pineapple industry waste. The company has collaborated with Nike, Hugo Boss, H&M, Paul Smith, Ecoalf, […]
In Houston, process technology provider Lummus Technology and biotech firm RWDC Industries have signed a binding Joint Development and Commercial Cooperation Agreement to expand manufacturing and global licensing of polyhydroxyalkanoates bioplastics. RWDC uses plant-based oils, including post-consumer or waste cooking oils, to produce its proprietary Solon™ PHA, which can be organically recycled or composted in […]
In Manhattan, a branding expert whose resume includes big-name clients like Netflix and Apple claims to have come up with 400 new names for cultivated meat, a category that is struggling to find resonance with consumers. The long list comes as cultivated meat producers begin to submit their products for regulatory approval and begin to […]
In Turkey, fashion brand Orta is set to launch a fall and winter collection that includes denim dyed with Nature Coatings’ BioBlack TX. The 100% biobased black pigment replaces petrochemically produced carbon black. The partnership with Orta closely follows news that Nature Coatings had completed a $2.45 million seed round that included participation from A-list […]
In London, household name designer Calvin Klein is using fibers from pineapple and wood wastes in its debut trainer footwear. “The Sustainable Knit Trainer” features a knitted upper composed of Ananas Anam’s PIÑAYARN® blended with Lenzing’s TENCEL™ Lyocell fibers. Crafted through a low-impact manufacturing process, PIÑAYARN® harnesses the potential of pineapple leaf waste while employing […]
In Taiwan, PM Group has unveiled the world’s first cleanroom gloves made from biomass. Dubbed PVC PACER Bio-Mass Gloves, the vinyl gloves are already being produced using established production processes for cleanroom gloves. The inclusion of biomass makes production of PVC PACER Bio-Mass Gloves carbon neutral. Certifications for the gloves have already been received from […]
In Copenhagen, nonprofit incubator and life science research institute has added three companies developing biobased materials to its Venture Lab program. In addition to five biotherapeutics companies, the Venture Lab additions include Novozymes’ Venture, which is evaluating scale cell culture media ingredients for the cultivated meat industry; BioHalo, which developing biobased fluorinated polymers and high-performance […]
In California, Yvon Chouinard, the founder of sustainability focused outdoor brand Patagonia, is living in a straw house designed by architect Dylan Johnson. The pair tells Dwell that straw is a promising and ecofriendly alternative to conventional building materials. “In the ’60s, people were talking a lot about straw bale houses and mud houses, adobe, […]
In London, a startup is converting polysaccharides in seaweed into bioplastics for packaging. Searo tells Food-Navigator Europe that its material extends the shelf-life of fruits and vegetables and is compostable. “We’re working to make sure that everything we make breaks down very rapidly,” says co-CEO Francis Field. Early applications include “really big offenders” to plastic […]
In Belgium, researchers at the University of Antwerp have found poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances in straws, including those made from plant-based materials. For straws made from paper and bamboo, they could not determine whether contamination with the forever chemicals occurred from contamination of soil or processing, or was added deliberately to improve straw performance. For […]
