Spotted: The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) says that a lack of ‘system enablers’ is the main challenge in scaling up supply chain transparency in the garment and footwear industries. The lack of those enablers presents a significant market opportunity in this area, as recent research found that 78 per cent of consumers would pay more for products that are produced locally or made from sustainable material. French company Weturn is improving this visibility for full circularity in textile production and use.
Weturn provides a complete recycling service that makes it possible for brands to offer consumers clear traceability of garments. Weturn tracks a company’s entire inventory, from finished products to production scraps, and builds a recycling process around future fabric needs. Weturn’s team picks up and transports unsold products and then recycles and spins them into new yarns that are used to create recycled raw material (RRM) fabrics.
It takes two to three months after pick-up of waste materials for a company to receive its recycled fabrics. Weturn’s service includes a full traceability report, and the company works with production partners in Spain, Italy, France, and Portugal to keep transport and other emissions to a minimum. The RRM fabrics are Global Recycled Standard certified, and part of every traceability report includes life cycle assessments covering water consumption, pollution, CO2 and other waste emissions.
While the complexity of the fashion industry can make it challenging to implement sustainable changes quickly, it also creates opportunity for exciting innovations. Springwise has spotted improvements in the industry’s sustainability in a number of different ways, including a cellulose powder that removes textile dyes from water, and 3D printed footwear that is 100 per cent recyclable.
Spotted: According to a paper from the University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment, 36 per cent of the world’s crop calories are actually used for animal feed, which is an inefficient way of producing food. For example, it takes about 100 calories of grain to produce just 12 calories of chicken or three calories of beef. However, a biotech startup in India is developing a more efficient way to feed livestock – using insects.
Instead of growing grain, Loopworm farms black soldier flies and processes them into animal feed products. The insects are raised on food waste sourced from food processors, retail chains, and fruit markets. Once grown, the insects are processed into animal and fish feed.
The finished meal is high in protein, containing around 60 per cent crude protein. The company also claims that it is rich in bio-active peptides which promote anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory, and anti-microbial properties. Because of this, it can be used as an ingredient in fish, poultry, and even pet food formulations as a replacement for fish meal. The feed also has a lower ash content than traditional meals, which makes it more digestible.
Co-founders Ankit Alok Bagaria and Abhi Gawri set up Loopworm to help solve India’s food waste problem. Bagaria explains: “Our major concern was that we had a significant amount of food waste in India … and there wasn’t much of a meaningful solution, where food waste is actually upcycled. There are solutions like composting, or biogas generation, which actually down cycles the product.”
Insect farming has been gaining traction in recent years as entrepreneurs and scientists search for alternative ways of producing protein for animal and human consumption. Some other innovations that Springwise has spotted include using insects to produce aquaculture feed, and a project that converts waste into animal feed using insects.
Spotted: Believe it or not, some heavy metals are commonly used in foods and cosmetics. One of these is titanium dioxide (TiO2), used as a whitening and brightening pigment in everything from gum to plant-based chicken. While TiO2 has been banned from use in food products sold in the European Union (EU), it is still in use in Canada and the US. While there is no general consensus on the safety of TiO2, consumers are increasingly becoming wary of such additives. Luckily, there is now a substitute.
Swiss startup Impossible Materials has developed a cellulose-based alternative to TiO2. The company extracts the cellulose from biomaterials such as wood pulp and transforms it into a white pigment in a chemical process. The startup claims this process is more sustainable than current production processes for generating white pigments, and the material is also biodegradable, unlike other white pigments.
Impossible Materials has recently raised $3.8 million (around €3.4 million) from investors like Big Idea Ventures in a seed funding round. The money will be used to construct a pilot facility in Switzerland, expand the team, and work on market entry in food, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals.
Andrew D. Ive, founder, Big Idea Ventures, explained: “Alternative protein products are getting better every day and it won’t be long until we can deliver consumers their traditional foods in more sustainable and climate friendly ways. Big Idea Ventures is investing in high quality and cost-effective supporting technologies that help accelerate consumer acceptance of alternative proteins.”
Pigment-based materials can often be unsustainable – using materials that are damaging to the environment and energy-intensive to manufacture. This is why Springwise has spotted several innovations aiming to create more sustainable pigments. These include an energy-saving paint inspired by butterflies and a non-toxic, biodegradable glitter.
Architect and restauranteur Elly Ward has opened the low-impact restaurant Edit in London, drawing inspiration from its vegan, minimal-waste menu to create an interior filled with reused and recycled materials.
Ward collaborated with her husband Joe Morris of architecture studio Morris + Company on the project, which was designed using low-intervention methods.
“It’s been designed to be as circular as possible, which is the whole philosophy of the restaurant,” she told Dezeen.
Edit is located in a former factory and warehouse building in east London and connected to the adjacent Morris + Company architecture office.
Visitors to the restaurant can view the studio’s models through a large glass door, adding a decorative touch to the space.
This door and a window into the office were two of the main changes Ward made to the existing space, which she has transformed using recycled and reclaimed materials.
The building’s brick walls – including a former exterior wall that still features old advertising text – were retained alongside the warehouse’s cast-iron columns and beams, forming the structural fabric of the 197-square-metre restaurant.
Ward added lightweight screen partitions that slot between the existing structures, including a wall made from wood and recycled polycarbonate that divides the main dining area from a smaller private dining room.
A warm red floor, made from screed topped with a water-based resin, matches the floor in the architecture office next door and contrasts the textured brick wall that Ward and Morris painstakingly unveiled from underneath layers of paint.
At the rear of the space, the duo clad a wall in salvaged maroon terracotta tiles, which merge into the bar counter. These were among the many recycled materials that Ward used for the project.
“I call them my wonky tiles because they’re like the wonky fruit and wonky veg of the industry that gets thrown away because it’s not a perfect carrot,” she said.
The architect also reused the copper from an existing bar in the restaurant, which now clads the sinks in the bathroom.
“It’s all about diverting waste from waste streams,” Ward said.
“When you’re building something new, you have to get things,” she added. “If you can’t buy recycled or reclaimed, you have to look for renewable materials, things that would have otherwise gone to waste but you’ve made into something else.”
“It’s almost a checklist of ‘how circular can you be?'”
Ward also sourced vintage Scandinavian school chairs to provide seating in the restaurant and complemented them with her grandparents’ wooden chairs and vintage Ercol seats.
The accompanying tables have tops made by British company Foresso using waste wood chips set in a plant-based resin, creating an effect similar to wooden terrazzo and adding textural interest to the room.
The lighting in the space was handmade by British artist Peter Lanyon using wood salvaged from trees that were trimmed back in a local woodland in Devon. Pieces include a “chandelier” made from a piece of hazelwood with hanging lampshades made from cherrywood veneer.
Throughout the restaurant, the colour palette adds a sense of warmth. While the main room has a red hue, Ward chose a calming green colour for the smaller private dining room.
“We started with the red; it’s obviously such a strong colour,” Ward said. “I’m somebody who’s quite into colour and I’m not really afraid of it but I didn’t want it to be a ‘pop’ kind of place.”
In the bathroom, the red hue is tempered by the decorative natural cork that clads the walls in both the main space and the toilet cubicles.
“It’s all waterproof and actually really good for humid, damp environments and you can wipe it clean,” Ward said.
To Ward, there’s a connection between the food and architecture industries that she wanted to underline in Edit’s design.
“I did a deep dive into the food industry and found out a lot of stuff about provenance and how a lot of the things we’re looking at in the architecture world about circularity and sustainability are kind of echoed in the food industry,” she said.
“I wanted the design to match that philosophy.”
Other vegan restaurants with decorative interiors include Humble Pizza by Child Studios in London and Sydney vegan cafe Gumbuya.
Spotted: Coffee is a popular drink, and the market continues to grow, with an increasing number of people turning to the convenience of coffee pods at home and at work. The problem with these capsules is that very few are recycled, with leading coffee brand Nespresso estimating that only 30 per cent of its consumers recycle the pods. One of the main stumbling blocks in recycling coffee capsules are the grounds that remain in the pod after it has been used.
Spanish company Recycap is making it easier for home users to recycle both the capsules themselves and leftover grounds with its React (Recycap Automated Coffee Technology) recycling device. Used pods are tossed into the device that then automatically cleans the capsules and separates the two materials for easier, more sustainable disposal.
The grounds can be collected for composting, and the cleaned capsules become recyclable in standard facilities. By removing the need for recycling facilities to separate organic waste from metal, the React device could save billions of pieces of recyclable rubbish from ending up in landfill or being incinerated.
The React device has the capacity to recycle up to 600 capsules per hour, making the technology convenient for large office buildings and in high traffic public spaces, such as grocery and convenience stores. Recycap has also created a coffee machine with the recycling technology integrated, so users can minimise the number of appliances they have on countertops. Available in red, black, or white, the coffee machine is compatible with most brands of coffee pods, making it easy to switch to a more sustainable brewing system.
The startup recently raised €400,000 to further develop its technologies and get them on the market.
Other coffee-focused innovations that Springwise has spotted include car interiors made from coffee pulp and a platform that encourages environmentally responsible coffee bean production.
Spotted: As the United Nations (UN) highlights, on the whole, commitments made by governments to cut emissions haven’t been fulfilled, meaning we are falling short of net-zero goals for 2050. And, energy consumption and corresponding carbon emissions are only set to rise with the growing global population. Changes to existing energy-heavy practices are unlikely to be enough to stop or significantly slow climate change, which is where carbon capture comes in. However, direct air capture (DAC) technologies – where CO2 is extracted from the ambient air – often rely on energy sources like fossil fuels to work, making them unsustainable long term. Enter Fervo Energy.
The US-based company is already a leader in the next generation of geothermal power, and earlier this year announced plans for a fully integrated geothermal and DAC facility with financial support from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI).
In DAC facilities, large fans are used to blow ambient air over carbon-dioxide-capturing materials. The sequestered CO2 is then heated, refined, and generally stored deep underground using a pump. In Fervo’s proposed designs, all of these processes would be fueled by geothermal power, in which heat from the Earth’s core is used to produce clean and renewable electricity. This makes it possible to clean our atmosphere of carbon without emitting any further pollution. As well as being a renewable source that is available 24/7, the company also emphasises that the use of geothermal power would allow DAC technologies to be operated at lower costs.
The recent grant from CZI will help make Fervo’s designs a reality, allowing the company to explore local geothermal reservoirs for underground carbon sequestration projects. Fervo aims to have a pilot facility up and running in three to five years, according to reports in the Washington Post.
Other innovations in the geothermal industry spotted by Springwise include a new ultra-deep drilling technique, and heating and cooling system designed for use by homeowners.
Benjamin Hubert’s studio Layer has worked with US start-up Croft to design a system of products for retrofitting vehicles to run on green hydrogen.
The Nanoplant and Nanocartridges are the first prototypes from Croft, which is currently raising funds for the project, and enable users to produce their own solid-state hydrogen to power cars, trucks and other heavy-duty vehicles.
With an appearance similar to a large home battery, the Nanoplant uses electricity and water from the mains supply to carry out electrolysis — the splitting of water into hydrogen and oxygen.
The hydrogen obtained in this process is known as “green hydrogen” because, if it is produced using renewable energy, it creates no greenhouse gas emissions. This is in contrast to “blue hydrogen”, which is produced from natural gas and creates some emissions.
The Nanoplant contains a pull-out drawer with room for four Nanocartridges, which store the hydrogen by sticking it to the surface of a proprietary particulate. According to the brand, this method stores the hydrogen densely and at low pressure, making it a safe solution that also gives more power and range than electric batteries.
According to Layer, Croft is “dedicated to creating a blueprint for an enduring, scalable, green-hydrogen economy” and offers its technology at a much lower cost than other hydrogen storage solutions on or near the market.
The studio says the product is best suited for larger vehicles in environments with little fast-charging infrastructure, and that heavy-duty pick-up trucks for farming, forestry, construction and other industries are the first target.
“Batteries are great to decarbonise smaller passenger vehicles that get used in gentle, predictable ways with access to good charging infrastructure,” Hubert told Dezeen.
“However, lots of mobility applications don’t match that description, and there, we need a power source that is denser than batteries and has fewer dependencies on infrastructure,” he added.
“Hydrogen stores significantly more energy in less space and with less weight than batteries, and it’s much easier to use hydrogen in environments with weak grids or where charging otherwise isn’t available.”
Hubert said that, at least in the short term, hydrogen would be a complement to electric vehicle technology, not a competitor.
“It’s a great complementary solution to batteries, and as with all things, it’s important to pick the right tool for the right job,” he continued.
To retrofit a vehicle with the technology, Croft removes most of the components of the power train and replaces them with its hydrogen storage system, a fuel cell, electric motors and other components, while reprogramming the vehicle’s onboard computer to utilise them.
Layer led the design and engineering of the Nanoplant and Nanocartridges, endeavouring to make them straightforward and easy to understand while also giving them an aesthetic that would communicate robustness and technological prowess.
The Nanoplant is modular and infinitely expandable — additional Nanoplant modules can be connected horizontally, each with the capacity for four Nanocartridges.
Each module has a minimal user interface on its front that counts down the time left to complete the recharge, and there is also a hose module for on-board charging. The drawer containing Nanocartridges can also double as a cart for transporting them to the vehicle.
The Nanocartridges weigh 14 to 16 kilograms and have four side handles, creating a cubic frame that can be easily gripped and stacked. A circular indicator on the top surface shows the cartridge’s remaining hydrogen capacity.
According to Layer, each cartridge has a range of 20 to 80 miles depending on the size of the vehicle and how hard it works.
“In addition to rapid fueling, cartridges also allow operators to carry additional fuel with them or receive rescue fuel if an asset gets stranded in the field, two features that today’s battery vehicles lack,” said Hubert.
In addition to its product design work, Layer created the brand identity for Croft, including the brandmark and packaging.
The brandmark is based on an abstracted letter “H”, which has been stylised to also look like a road vanishing into the distance. It will be used in many ways, including debossed into products, applied as a micro-pattern to create texture, and as a call to action on interaction points.
Layer has been embracing emerging technologies, and has recently also worked on the Ledger Stax hardware wallet for storing cryptocurrency and the Viture One video streaming glasses.
Spotted: Europe’s top three coffee-consuming countries drink more than 1,000 cups per person every year. From free reusable crockery on German trains to additional fees charged to customers wanting to use single-use food packaging in the Netherlands, nations around the world are trialling ways to cut down on plastic pollution, particularly in the takeaway food and drink industry.
Many companies encourage the use and washing of mugs and bowls in the office, and with a goal of reducing the water used to provide such a service, French company Auum has created a new method of cleaning. The Auum-S single glass dishwasher is made from a patented design that disinfects reusable cups in 10 seconds, allowing one washer to clean up to 2,000 glasses per day. The company is building a circular economy with French-made parts and assembly, along with a rental service that ensures that machines are properly maintained, and glasses recycled at the end of their life.
Auum cups are made from double-walled borosilicate by Swiss glassmakers Bodum and the glasses can be custom branded. The glasses are lightweight and cool to the touch, even after cleaning. The countertop washer cleans a single glass using 140-degree Celsius dry steam and less than a single ounce of water per wash. The high temperature negates the need for chemicals.
The low rate of water use makes the washer much more economical, both financially and environmentally, than using biodegradable or paper cups or running a traditional dishwasher. In a company with 150 employees, using the Auum-S washer saves up 130,000 litres of water each year and eliminates close to 100,000 disposable cups.
Countertop appliances are getting smarter and smaller, with Springwise spotting a no-smell compost device as well as a homebrewing solution for plant-based milk.
A sequinned Stella McCartney bodysuit and styrofoam cups made from mealworms feature in this roundup highlighting innovative design projects that make use of bioplastics.
Bioplastics offer an alternative to traditional plastics, derived from renewable natural materials such as plants as opposed to petroleum.
To fight pollution, many are also designed to be compostable or biodegradable under specific conditions, for example in an industrial composter. However, experts have raised concerns that we currently lack the necessary waste management infrastructure to dispose of these bioplastics correctly.
While the debate about end-of-life wages on, brands and designers are continuing to explore how bioplastics can be used to wean the world off fossil fuels.
Read on for 10 projects from the Dezeen archive that explore different uses for bioplastics:
Radiant Matter sequin bodysuit by Stella McCartney
British fashion brand Stella McCartney recently launched a sleeveless body suit embellished with bioplastic sequins made from tree cellulose by material innovation company Radiant Matter.
The sequins were developed as a substitute for petroleum-based plastic embellishments, which the brand says can contain carcinogenic chemicals. Radiant Matter’s alternative is made from renewable cellulose extracted from trees, which has a crystalline form that reflects the light and provides the product with a sparkling quality.
Find out more about the sequin bodysuit ›
Calvin Klein gift wrap by Natural Material Studio
Last Christmas, Copenhagen-based Natural Material Studio created a bespoke bio-textile pouch to function as a gift-wrapping alternative for Calvin Klein products during the holiday season.
The material, called Procel, was developed by Natural Material Studio and is made from a protein bioplastic mixed with natural softeners and pigments. The pouches were designed to be reused and can alternatively be recycled. According to the studio, the product is also biodegradable.
Find out more about the biomaterial gift wrap ›
Kelp Mini Clutch by JK3D
Informed by kelp structures found along the coastline of Malibu, California, the Kelp Mini Clutch is a 3D-printed bioplastic bag created by Black Panther costume designer Julia Koerner for her brand JK3D.
The bag uses bioplastics derived from corn and soybeans for its construction and is 3D-printed to achieve a ribbed, lamella-like form reminiscent of the underside of mushrooms.
Find out more about Kelp Mini Clutch ›
Clingfilm alternative by Great Wrap
Great Wrap is a bioplastic clingfilm alternative, which was designed to break down in a landfill or industrial compost within 180 days.
Australian biomaterials company Great Wrap produces the clingfilm by extracting and plasticising the starch found in waste potato peels. The resulting thermoplastic starch is then compounded with used cooking oil and a starchy root vegetable called cassava to change its polymer structure so it can be used as a stretch film.
Find out more about Great Wrap ›
Bioplastic vinyl by Evolution Music
Music and sustainability collective Evolution Music released a 12-inch vinyl record made from bioplastic following a four-year development process. This was needed to identify a base polymer that acts similarly to traditional PVC but without harmful and emissions-intensive ingredients.
“It is a robust, ecologically secure, compostable material created specifically to act and sound the same as PVC-derived vinyl,” Evolution Music CEO Marc Carey told Dezeen.
Find out more about the 12-inch vinyl ›
bFriends desk accessories by Pearson Lloyd for Bene
Hoping to give waste bioplastics a new life, this collection of desk accessories by office brand Bene is made from discarded polylactic acid (PLA) food packaging. The collection’s pen pots, trays and phone stands were designed by London studio Pearson Lloyd and 3D-printed by additive manufacturing studio Batch.Works.
According to Batch.Works, the production process produces close to net-zero emissions and once the products are no longer needed, they can be recycled or reclaimed by Bene under a take-back scheme.
Find out more about bFriends ›
Alternative polystyrene packaging by Doppelgänger
Design studio Doppelgänger has developed an alternative to polystyrene foam made from chitin – a biopolymer that is sourced from the exoskeleton of mealworms – a turned it into cups, foam peanuts and other packaging.
The material breaks down in soil in a matter of weeks, according to the studio, while offering shock-absorbent and water-resistant qualities that rival its petroleum-based counterpart.
Find out more about the polystyrene substitute ›
BreaZea room divider by Crafting Plastics and Office MMK
BreaZea is a 3D-printed room divider made from a scent-infused bioplastic. It was created by design studios Crafting Plastics and Office MMK, who presented the object at Salone del Mobile in 2021.
The room divider uses one of Crafting Plastics’ Nuatan bioplastics, which are made from a blend of PLA and PHA polyester. BreaZea has a natural scent reminiscent of bread and maize, in an attempt to mimic the way that fresh wood can add a pleasant aroma to an interior.
Find out more about BreaZea ›
Algae sequin dress by Phillip Lim and Charlotte McCurdy
In 2021, fashion designer Philip Lim and industrial designer Charlotte McCurdy teamed up to develop a petroleum-free dress covered in bioplastic sequins.
McCurdy created the sequins by binding algae together using heat and placing it in a custom mould to cure and solidify. The bioplastic was cast into sheets and then cut out into tusk-shaped sequins, which were used to cover an A-line dress designed by Lim.
Find out more about the algae sequins ›
Bioplastic Skin by Valdís Steinarsdóttir
Bioplastic Skin is a food packaging made from boiled animal hides that was designed to dissolve in hot water and biodegrade in a matter of weeks.
The project was developed by Icelandic designer Valdís Steinarsdóttir, who wanted to find new ways of reusing the waste produced by slaughterhouses. As part of the same project, the designer also created Just Bones – a sturdier material made from ground animal bones, which she turned into a series of vases.
Now is the time of year when many start thinking about our summer holidays. Travel has long been associated with escapism and disconnection as well as adventure and discovery. But, in 20 years’ time, as the world becomes more connected and crowded, how will holidaymakers find the respite they seek? And, just as importantly, how can we feed this human desire without damaging the planet – especially given that tourism-related transport alone is expected to account for 5.3 per cent of global CO2 emissions by 2030? To find out we asked some of the world’s leading futurists in our Future 2043 report.
For alternative futurist Gus Balbontin, in 2043: “We will need more and more true disconnection and it will get harder to come by,” while “fewer and fewer places on earth will feel truly like we are exploring foreign cultures.” At the same time, changes in pricing, access, and consumer decision-making will change how we travel and think about our impact. “Perhaps more people will decide to leave the Antarctic alone and experience it via a documentary or with a pair of VR goggles,” he speculates.
While, today, tourism is often associated with consumerism and environmentally damaging behaviour, will the tourists of the future be cut from the same cloth? Anne Skare Nielsen, co-founder of Universal Futurist thinks not. “While the tourist of 2023 was often the worst version of ourselves, travellers in 2043 will be idealists, less concerned with taking home a stone from a beach and more focused on giving back,” she argues, suggesting that, “we’ll go diving to not just enjoy the sights, but to restore a coral reef.”
Tourism is an important industry for many developing countries, so we can’t simply stop travelling altogether, and innovations in sustainable travel are therefore extremely important. Here are three of the best recently spotted by Springwise.
There is a now a new way to stay hydrated when visiting Venice’s historic streets and waterways. Visitors to the island can use a map and an app to find a fountain of fresh water near their location. Each fountain is unique and provides a glorious mix of design and location. The map encourages people to carry their own personal water bottles and forego the disposable plastic versions whenever possible. The Venice Tap Water website lists all currently available fountains within the city and on the surrounding islands. There are nearly 200 listed, making it often only a matter of a few steps to find safe drinking water. Water distribution company Veritas provides detailed water quality information for the area, alongside a map of public restrooms in the city. Read more
Rivers are some of the most idyllic, and valuable, natural environments on earth, and this beauty naturally attracts the attention of tourists. While river tourism bolsters local economies and creates an incentive to preserve natural waterways, traditional fossil fuel tourist vessels create emissions of carbon dioxide and air pollutants. Moreover, gas or oil leaks from motorboats and sailboats with engines can contaminate water. And from the tourists’ own point of view, the peace and tranquillity of a river scene is often soured by the noise and vibrations of a chugging engine. But what if there was a way to address these problems? Croatia has some of the most beautiful rivers and lakes in Europe, and Croatian startup iCat has developed a solar-powered passenger catamaran that enables tourists, and others, to enjoy the scenery in a more sustainable way. Read more
Based in France, Murmuration is focused on sustainable tourism and has recently announced the launch of Flockeo – a community platform that allows travellers to choose sustainable destinations. The Flockeo platform is inspired by the European Commission’s ETIS indicator system, which assesses the sustainability of tourism destinations. By combining satellite and statistical data, Flockeo provides users with information on environmental, social, and economic indicators. This data can be used to evaluate the sustainability of a destination and make informed decisions about where to travel. Read more
Want to discover more about what the world will look like in 2043? Download our free Future 2043 report which draws on the insights of 20 of the world’s leading futurists.For more innovations, head to the Springwise Innovation Library.