A World Without Waste – ABC of Utilizing Industrial Production Side Streams

4 min. read

The world is drowning in non-renewable waste. Our seas, rivers, and lakes are full of microplastics, and the mass production of various consumer products destroys our beloved, pure nature, a source of refreshment and recreation. It even takes up to 20,000 litres of water to produce 1 kg of cotton – and that is a lot!

This situation can’t continue. There are as many ways of reusing different bio-based raw materials from industrial production side streams as there is microplastic in the ocean. That equals further minimizing plastic and fossil-based raw materials in our everyday life.

Solutions already exist – from Spinnova to Adidas and Patagonia

We know that you know someone who’s rocking a Patagonia vest, Pure Waste shirt, or Girlfriend Collective sports clothing. Maybe you have seen someone consciously using a Hydro Flask, Klean Kanteen, or Soma bottle in their daily life.

Like us, you may have come across Spinnova, the company players like Adidas, H&M, and The North Face have collaborated with recently. Maybe you’ve witnessed one of the most interesting, intriguing, and sustainable collaborations of 2021 – Adidas x Marimekko.

Why do we name-drop these? Because they all have one thing in common: they are actively searching for solutions to problems such as waste, pollution, and climate change.

We give that a high five!

Collaborations that make the world enlightened

Just as Spinnova says about their collaborations: “Our main goal is to industrially scale our technology up to big volumes, for all consumers alike to use. We partner with some of the world’s biggest brands to create sustainable products with our materials.”

CH-Bioforce is on the same eco-friendly bio-operating train by providing technologic solutions to make the fibers, clothing, packaging, textiles, and organic and vegan cosmetics possible through partnerships, its own production, and a famous technology!

Even now, you can make the enlightened decision when buying clothing, packed consumables, or cosmetics but there is still a lot that producers could do. Many industrial side streams could be used instead of burning them or dumping them in a landfill.

And this is how to use industrial side streams

Clothing and textiles: With the unique CH-Bioforce technology, the textile industry’s producers – raw material or end product – can start using cellulose in making clothing fabric. Cellulose can be used as a substitute for cotton and oil-based raw materials. Cellulose is all around us, easily accessible from many wood-like biomaterials and industrial production waste – wood chips, straw, and brewers’ spent grain (BSG) – to name but a few.

Consumer goods and products: Just like clothing, fossil- and oil-based products can be seen everywhere – and they are easily replaced with real eco-friendly products. Coffee cups, take-away packaging, and plastic wraps and bags – oil-based materials are used to produce these, but the fossil raw material could be replaced with lignin and hemicellulose that can be found naturally in trees. Did you know that lignin constitutes a third of wood’s biomass?

Cosmetics and skincare products: Well, yes, it’s inarguably clear that this means oils and plastics – but what if we change that to purely natural oils and lignin or hemicellulose? With these two biomaterials, we can replace unnatural ingredients and plastics in making the product and packaging the product. The biomaterials already exist.

Further reading:

https://www.vttresearch.com/en/ourservices/sustainable-and-smart-packaging-solutions
https://www.treehugger.com/best-sustainable-makeup-brands-5184524
https://www.hydroflask.com/uk-en/our-story
https://drinksoma.com/pages/sustainability
https://girlfriend.com/pages/about
https://www.adidas.fi/marimekko
https://www.marimekko.com/fi_fi/adidas-x-marimekko/mallisto
https://www.purewaste.com/experience-pure-waste/about-us/mission-statement
https://www.patagonia.com/climate-goals/
https://spinnova.com/collaboration/
https://www.thenorthface.eu/en_fi/sustainability.html
https://hmgroup.com/sustainability/
https://www.kleankanteen.com/pages/klean-on-climate