Can you hear Willie Nelson singing \u201cOn the road again, Just can\u2019t wait to get on the road again\u201d with the latest news from the Netherlands on their heavily used biobased asphalt road holding up super well after 6 months since installation in Groningen? How about IKEA eyeing brewery waste and mushrooms in their mission to eliminate plastic packaging by 2028?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In today\u2019s Digest, Avantium\u2019s bioasphalt road, IKEA\u2019s biopackaging, plant-based laundry sheets winning over a Shark Tank investor, and more hot innovations of the week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In North Carolina, two entrepreneurs who took their plant-based laundry sheets onto the popular Shark Tank product pitch reality show have walked away with an investment deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Daniel Lubetzky, a guest \u201cshark\u201d on the November 19 episode of the ABC hit\u2014as well as the billionaire behind KIND Snacks and SOMOS foods\u2014declared \u201cwe have a deal\u201d on Sheets Laundry Club; launched in 2019 by Chris Campbell and Chris Videau, Sheets is aimed at addressing microplastics in oceans. On the show, Videau said he became passionate about reducing plastics use after returning from military service in Iraq, where widespread plastics burning damaged his lungs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lubetzky says he is excited to support Sheets, adding that the company has \u201cgreat traction,\u201d having hit $2 million in sales and reaching a deal with Kimberly-Clark Corp. For $500,000, Lubetzky gains 8% equity and 2% in advisory shares. \u201cWhat a great example of avoiding false compromises and delivering multiple benefits to your consumer,\u201d Lubetzky later tweeted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
More on the story, here.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n In the Netherlands, furniture and home goods giant Ikea has vowed to eliminate plastic packaging by 2028.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While much of that plastic will be replaced with paper, some applications, like food, will require more outside-of-the-box thinking. \u201cPaper is a very good material to use because it does come from renewable sources, and it has quite strong circular capabilities,\u201d Maja Kjellberg, packaging innovation leader at Ikea, tells Fast Company. \u201cBut we\u2019re not limiting ourselves to paper. We do want to use other materials going forward. And we have an innovation program ongoing right now where we\u2019re scouting on startups and scale-ups to find new ways of packing products and other materials that aren\u2019t wood and fiber based.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mushroom-based material has been considered to replace Styrofoam, but is not yet available at needed scale. Byproducts of beer brewing are also under consideration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The company has already made inroads, and currently just 10% of its packaging needs are met with plastic. By 2025, the company hopes that its plastic packaging needs will be confined to just food products where the plastic imparts food-preserving properties or is required by regulations. Recycled and plant-based plastics are under consideration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPlastic for now is, in many cases, the most sustainable option, compared to packing something in paper, and then the shelf life would be much lower, or you\u2019d have more food waste, which is even worse from a sustainability point of view,\u201d Kjellberg says. \u201cSo plastic will be used in food. But when we still have to use the plastics, we will make sure that they are from renewable sources or recycled.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n More on the story, here.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n In the Netherlands, a test section of road using biobased asphalt has held up well over 6 months\u2014encouraging news for efforts to decarbonize road construction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The trial section of N987 in Groningen was laid in early June using asphalt that swapped a portion of petroleum-based bitumen, which binds the asphalt together, with lignin. The material was developed by Roelofs and Avantium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAfter constructing a few smaller test sections on bicycle paths in Groningen, it was time for a busy road. The provincial road is heavily used and the asphalt is performing extremely well,\u201d Albertus Steenbergen, Manager of Asphalt and Engineering at Roelofs, tells Innovation Origins. The road will continue to be monitored, and the team will also look at increasing lignin content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n More on the story, here.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n In Germany, researchers at Georg August University have created a process to turn popcorn into a polystyrene foam alternative for building insulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Forest Sciences professor Alireza Kharazipour and his team create the material by shredding and pressure-steaming corn to expand or \u201cpop\u201d it. A plant-based protein is then used to bind the material, which is then packed into a mold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis new process, based on that of the plastics industry, enables the cost-effective production of insulation boards at an industrial scale,\u201d Kharazipour said in a press release. \u201c[N]atural insulation materials are no longer just niche,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n More on the story, here.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n In South Korea, LG Chem and GS Caltex have signed a joint development deal for a fermentation-based production process for hydroxypropionic acid (3HP).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The goal is to accelerate 3HP development by combining LG Chem\u2019s fermentation know-how with GS Caltex\u2019s process facility technologies. The 3HP will be produced using glucose or glycerol. The two companies hope to launch products based on 3HP into the biodegradable materials and bioplastics markets in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs microplastics have become a serious environmental issue, products that quickly decompose in the natural ecosystem will be able to create sustainable value in that it will eco-friendly consumption,\u201d says GS Caltex President Sae Hong Hur. \u201cThrough our cooperation in developing eco-friendly materials, the two companies will not only strength ESG capacities such as contributing to a circulating economy and reducing carbons, but also create economic value with high value-added products.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n More on the story, here.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n In Vancouver, online publication Yanko Design has done a deep dive on cork, the spongey bark material most often associated with wine. The extensive list of innovative uses demonstrate the design community\u2019s interest in cork\u2019s unique properties and point to growing use of cork in everyday life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Designers Ivo Erichsen and Tobbias Bihlmeyer present probably the most outside-of-the-box use for cork present on the list. Erichsen and Bihlmeyer propose a vacuum cleaner with a cork body that the non-cork elements can be folded neatly inside of\u2014essentially hiding the unsightly appliance in plain sight as an end table or ottoman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another designer, Element 0, recently designed a sneaker that incorporates recycled cork into its outsole. Other renewable materials in the unisex kicks include wool, corn-fiber, and latex. Grovemade has created an apple watch dock incorporating cork, while Fanoos has used cork in a planter that features both lighting element and an emergency medical response button for the elderly. Barcelona\u2019s ERA Architects hopes to encourage sustainable tourism with its Pinea Mobile Ecological RV, which incorporates cork into the furniture and roof.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Other cork products in Yanko\u2019s roundup include credit card holders, furniture, and headphones<\/p>\n\n\n\n More on the story, here.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n In California, startup New Culture has raised $25 million as it works to make good on its promise of putting a better animal-free mozzarella on Bay Area slices in 2022. The funds will be used to add production capacity and staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unlike vegan mozzarellas that attempt to mimic the melty goodness of cheese through creative use of plant-based ingredients, New Culture\u2019s mozzarella uses actual dairy protein casein, albeit made in a fermenter and not on a farm. The company is then able to use traditional cheese-making methods to create a mozzarella that is identical to its conventional, dairy-based mozzarella.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The oversubscribed Series A was led by Ahren Innovation Capital and CPT Capital. ADM Ventures, Be8 Ventures, Evolv, SOSV, and S2G Ventures also participated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019re thrilled to close our Series A with an incredible syndicate of existing and new investors,\u201d New Culture co-founders Gibson and Inja Radman say in a press statement. \u201cWe can\u2019t wait to dive into this next phase of scale-up and production to offer our delicious, melty, animal-free cheese to pizza lovers all across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n#2 Ikea eyes mushrooms, brewery waste in bid to completely phase out plastics<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
#3 On the (biobased) road again: Lignin asphalt trial holding up well<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
#4 Stay warm with popcorn? Theater snack holds promise for building insulation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
#5 LG Chem and GS Caltex sign bioplastics pact<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
#6 Cork vacuum, RVs point to design renaissance<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
#7 Investors back cheesier animal-free mozzarella<\/h3>\n\n\n\n