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MarinaTex

Innovative packaging substance from fish waste and red algae – Product design student Lucy Huges ‘ project at the University of Sussex involves developing a new type of packaging solution that is sustainable and biodegradable. Over 100 experiments required the material called MarinaTex, which consists of the agar of red algae and the proteins of fish waste. The natural raw materials of the oceans[...]

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MILK MaterialLab Marinatex Folie MILK-MaterialLab-Marinatex-Folie-2

KAIKU Living Color

Colors from food bowls – KAIKU Living Color is a sustainable alternative to conventional paints made from petroleum. Using food trays from vegetables that have already been eaten offers a chemical- and toxin-free option for coloring materials. For the preparation of living colors are particularly suitable avocados, beet, onions and oranges. These are boiled so that first the juice[...]

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Ecoenclose

Reusable packaging and shipping material – The environmentally friendly packaging from ecoenclose consists primarily of reusable materials that have already been used and recycled. By not using new bioplastics, not only are new materials saved, but also the resources used to produce them. The American company focuses on the use of renewable energies and conscious waste management – with a[...]

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MILK MaterialLab Ecoenclose

LAVAZZA Cookie Cup

Cookie dough coffee cup – Italian designer Enrique Sardi has created a coffee cup for LAVAZZA that consists of a cookie dough and special powdered sugar. The edible cookie cup can be eaten after the coffee has been enjoyed and therefore produces no waste. LAVAZZA became a pioneer with this idea and has since inspired various food manufacturers to[...]

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MILK MaterialLab Enrique Sardi for LAVAZZA Cookiecup MILK-MaterialLab-Enrique-Sardi-for-LAVAZZA-Cookiecup-4

ReadyCycle

Sustainable packaging for fruit and vegetables – ReadyCycle’s packaging is a sustainable alternative to traditional fruit and vegetable packaging. The recyclable trays not only offer the fragile goods the optimum protection, but are also designed with a vegetable-based ink. Since no adhesives or labels are used and the trays are made only of recycled paper and a water coating, they are[...]

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MILK MaterialLab READYCYCLE Packaging

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”

Jewelry papers from recycled coffee-to-go cups – The British company G. F Smith shows how recycled coffee-to-go cups can be turned into attractive paper with its Extract project. Used disposable coffee cups are separated into their plastic and paper components for production in order to produce FSC-certified paper in a subsequent step in collaboration with CupCycling by James Cropper. Approximately 5[...]

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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 from 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[...]

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Agar Plasticity

Packing based on seaweed – Agar Plasticity is a materials research project investigating agar as an alternative to synthetic plastics. Agar is a traditional Japanese foodstuff that is often used to make sweets. However, it is also used worldwide in the scientific and medical fields. It is mainly sold in its driedstate in the form of blocks, flakes and[...]

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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, yogurt pots 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 – The South Tyrolean company FRUMAT has been drying and grinding the cellulose-containing fruit residues from apple juice production (so-called apple pomace) since 2003 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

Bio-Flex

Bioplastic
for flexible film applications – The bioplastic from Bio-Flex is basedpartly, and sometimes completely, on natural raw materials (e.g. corn, sugar cane or castor oil) and is therefore used for various film applications in the food industry. The certified biodegradability allows Bio-Flex to be used in the agricultural industry. Decomposable plant clips are thus a way to plow under[...]

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