High-quality, High-performance Biomaterials from Fruit Waste for a more Sustainable Future in the Fashion Industry
09.10.2024
The start-up Polybion from Mexico is one of the five finalists in the ISC3 Innovation Challenge 2024 on the topic “Innovations in Sustainable Chemistry for Textiles” – We present the start-ups in an exclusive series. In October, they will pitch their ideas at the ISC3 Investor Forum as part of the Impact Festival in Frankfurt.
Most consumer goods made from leather are still traditionally of animal origin but are now often also produced artificially from crude oil. Today, both production processes face numerous challenges in terms of sustainability and the circular economy. They generally require a high amount of energy, often aggressive chemical treatments and recycling is hardly possible. With its next-generation material made from fruit waste, the Mexican start-up Polybion has developed an animal-free and ecologically valuable alternative. Importantly, the so-called next-generation materials can only have a significant impact as direct substitutes for conventional products such as leather, silk, fur, down or wool if they are affordable, competitive and available on a mass scale. And this is exactly what Polybion promises with its leather alternative Celium.