alt

Zarkon Group Real Estate Builders & Developers > Blog > alt

Tag: alt

Plant-based and plastic-free: the future of alt leather
CategoriesSustainable News

Plant-based and plastic-free: the future of alt leather

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Leather is one of the most energy-inefficient and destructive textiles. In addition to animal wealfare concerns, leather production involves large amounts of energy, land, and water, alongside the use of harmful chemicals – leading to deforestation and pollution. One way to reduce the environmental impact of the textile industry is to introduce more circularity into the production process. And this is exactly what startup ALT.Leather has done.

Unlike some other alternative leathers, bio-based ALT.Leather is not made from fossil fuel-based materials like PVC. Instead, the company used agricultural waste to develop a unique fibre with a structure that mimics the 3D webbing of animal leather, which helps to make the final product durable and strong.

The company’s founder, Tina Funder, told Springwise: “Our product contains zero petroleum plastic, zero animal products and is ethically made.” The Australian company also uses 100 per cent Australian ingredients, reducing emissions from transportation.

ALT.Leather recently closed an oversubscribed seed funding round, raising AU$1.1 million (around €667,000), exceeding the initial target of AU$750,000 (around €455,000). The round was led by investment firm Wollemi Capital Group.

Springwise is spotting more and more innovators making use of bio-based materials and textiles. These include a bio-based approach to leather recycling and textiles made from pineapple waste.

Written By: Lisa Magloff

Reference

Is AI the secret ingredient for tastier alt meat?
CategoriesSustainable News

Is AI the secret ingredient for tastier alt meat?

By Zarkon Group,

Using AI for tastier plant-based meat

Spotted: Despite a well-publicised difficult year in 2023, plant-based meat is on the rise, with the global market forecast to reach revenues of $24.8 billion by 2030. But while the long-term drivers for plant-based meat look promising, many in the industry feel that the ‘mouthfeel’ of the products available today is holding the market back, as is the high cost of production.

Now, Israeli non-profit GreenProtein AI hopes to tackle both problems at once by consolidating the knowledge of alternative protein innovators to help companies find the perfect ‘extrusion’ settings for meat-like plant-based protein.

In the context of plant-based meat, extrusion is the process through which various protein sources are converted into an output that has the sinuous texture of meat. Today, the process is unpredictable due to the number of parameters involved, and optimising outcomes through trial and error is expensive, particularly for smaller companies. GreenProtein’s artificial intelligence (AI), could prove a game-changer in making the process more efficient and predictable.

Key to the organisation’s approach is the collation of a diverse dataset from across the entire industry through the pooling of insights from individual manufacturers and facilities. All this data feeds GreenProtein’s algorithm, enabling it to simulate the texture produced by different combinations of ingredients and parameters, identifying the optimal approach. The AI can also help minimise production waste and energy consumption, leading to more sustainable manufacturing and reduced production costs.

GreenProtein works through collaborations with plant-based meat manufacturers, laboratories, extrusion facilities, and manufacturers of extrusion equipment, all of whom stand to benefit from unique insights and the maturation of the market as a whole.

Plant-based proteins are an important part of the puzzle for providing sufficient protein to a growing world population, and Springwise’s library contains several examples of innovations seeking to make them more affordable and delicious. This includes a company that is ‘spinning’ protein fibres like textile threads, and a company eliminating inefficiencies in plant protein production.

Written By: Keely Khoury and Matthew Hempstead

The post Is AI the secret ingredient for tastier alt meat? appeared first on Springwise.

Reference

A plant-based topcoat for plastic-free alt leather
CategoriesSustainable News

A plant-based topcoat for plastic-free alt leather

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Plastic is everywhere. In fact, as microplastics are found in more and more places – the bottom of the ocean, the food chain, and inside our bodies for example – concern over the use of plastics is growing. However, there are few products that can replicate plastic’s usefulness, especially as a topcoat on products such as leather and flooring. Until now, that is. Sustainable materials brand von Holzhausen has recently announced a new plastic-free topcoat that could replace the use of petroleum-based materials.

Called Liquidplant, the new customisable product is 100 per cent plant-based, petroleum-free, and completely biodegradable. The product is designed for use as a coating on products such as traditional and synthetic leather, paper, wood, plastic, and fabric.

The coating is made from sustainably grown materials, including corn sugar, castor oil, and flaxseed oil. It has similar qualities to traditional topcoats, including being flexible, as well as stain-, scratch-, and water-resistant.  The company says Liquidplant can be used on its own or paired with von Holzhausen’s Terra Backing material. And at the end of its usable life, the products can be recycled into more Liquidplant.

Founded by former automotive designer Vicki von Holzhausen, the company has developed a number of vegan materials, including a bamboo-based leather, and leathers crafted from recycled consumer plastic. The company states its mission as replacing “all the animal leather in the world with non-animal leather. [It believes] in the power of plants and in transforming discarded materials into remarkable ones.”

Vegan leather is everywhere now, and its use is growing as the products become more sophisticated and luxurious. Springwise has spotted leather substitutes made from products as diverse as mycelium, fruit waste, and flowers.

Written By: Lisa Magloff

Reference