circular economy

Loliware has developed Sea Technology™, a groundbreaking category of seaweed-based resins designed to replace plastic at scale. Utilizing regenerative, carbon-capturing, ocean-farmed seaweed, Sea Tech™ Resins mimic the look and feel of traditional plastics and are specifically engineered to be compatible with existing manufacturing equipment, ensuring a smooth transition to sustainable practices. These resins are always Designed to Disappear™, decomposing as quickly as a banana peel. Products made from Sea Tech™ can either be eaten or composted into soil.

Amphitex™ is a PFAs-free alternative to traditional waterproof and breathable textiles. Developed by Amphico, a leader in integrating research, engineering, and design to advance innovation and circularity, Amphitex™ is crafted for outdoor use with a unique, coating-free Amphidry™ Yarn. This yarn is essentially superhydrophobic and does not require additional water-repellent chemical coatings. Free from polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), Amphitex™ achieves high performance in both waterproofing and breathability, matching the standards of industry leaders.

Keel Labs is a sustainable materials company that develops innovative materials derived from ocean resources. The main product, Kelsun™ fiber, uses seaweed due to its versatility, resilience, and ecological benefits. The production process involves extracting alginate, a biopolymer from seaweed, and combining it with proprietary additives and water to form a solution known as dope. This solution undergoes wet spinning, where polymer chains link to form fine filaments, which are then extruded into an aqueous solution and stretched to align their internal structure.

Circular Systems is a material science company that transforms biowaste into valuable fiber, yarn, and textile fabrics. Texloop™ is a technology that recycles pre-  and post-consumer textile waste into a high-quality recycled cotton fabric and upgrades it into high-quality RCOT™ recycled cotton fiber.

Origin Materials has developed the Origin Platform, which replaces oil as the foundational feedstock for the material economy. Woody biomass is Origin’s feedstock, which comes from agricultural waste, wood waste, and even old cardboard. The Origin platform converts C-6 cellulose into four isolated building-block chemicals in one chemo-catalytic step with almost zero carbon loss. Their catalyst is recovered and doesn’t rely on expensive sugars or fermentation.

Hydrothermal process technology that separates cotton and polyester fibers from polycotton waste and returns them to the raw material stage. Circ’s process is divided into three steps. First, textile waste from various sources is collected, then sorted and mechanically resized. Second, a hydrothermal process using water, pressure, and responsible chemistry separates polyester from cotton fibers, transforming the polyester into a liquid polymer and allowing separation from the cotton residue.

Notpla’s regenerative packaging, made from seaweed and plants, offers a unique, scalable solution to replace single-use plastics without releasing harmful chemicals. The Notpla’s packaging can be disposed of in three ways: 100% recyclable, home-compostable, or industrially compostable. Notpla’s packaging technology is manufactured with components from seaweed and plants, creating biodegradable materials that mimic certain properties of plastic but then break down naturally.

Break down of discarded polyester into raw material for new plastic and new products developed by Protein Evolution. This technology aims to reduce polyester waste piling up in landfills and incinerators due to the complexity of the material. Protein Evolution is leading the way in transitioning the chemicals industry towards a low-carbon, circular economy by transforming plastic waste management production through its Biopure™ technology. Biopure™ process outputs are indistinguishable from the fossil-fuel-derived molecules used to produce polyester today.