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From Fallen Leaves to ‘Leather’ Alternatives | Biophilica

Meet the Innovator: Biophilica

Biophilica transforms green waste into Treekind® – a compostable, plastic-free, estimated carbon neutral, and recyclable ‘leather’ alternative!
Image via Pexels.

 

27 February 2024

Through our global Innovation Platform, Fashion for Good supports critical innovations on their journey to scale, providing hands-on project management, access to funding and expertise, and collaborations with brands and manufacturers to accelerate implementation in the fashion supply chain. In this series, we are proud to introduce some of the groundbreaking innovators who are driving the change to make fashion a force for good.

In its current state, the mainstream production of conventional animal leather is linked to serious sustainability issues at each step of the supply chain, often requiring significant energy and harmful chemicals in its production. But, mainstream ‘leather’ alternatives are not always a good sustainable alternative, as they’re commonly made from different types of plastic polymers, making them neither sustainable nor biodegradable.

Biophilica has developed a technology that converts green waste into a new ‘leather’ alternative called Treekind®. The innovator collects leaves, agricultural waste, and other green waste, also known as lignocellulosic materials, from London parks, dries and turns them into a powder, that then is mixed with a natural binder and dried into sheets. The resulting material is then coated in a bio-based layer to make it water resistant/repellent.  

Treekind® can be recycled or home composted as verified in the ISO 14855-1 test. It uses less than 0.1% of the water equivalent to leather processing and has a very low carbon footprint. It is non-toxic, PETA vegan certified, and contains zero plastic, while delivering on performance.

KEY MILESTONES

  • 2019

    Biophilica is founded by Mira Nameth.

  • 2020

    Biophilica raises  £10,000 to make the first 500 m2 of Treekind®.

  • 2021

    Biophilica joins Fashion for Good for bespoke support on their roadmap to scale.

  • April 2022

    Biophilica raises £1.2m Seed round by investors including Rhapsody Venture Partners, to bring its plastic-free ‘leather’ alternative Treekind® to market.

  • October 2022

    Biophilica partners up with clothing and accessories brand HYPE and the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) in launching the Engineering a Better Future: Backpack to the Future competition.

    Biophilica partners with ID Genève to develop a watch strap made from from Biophilica’s Treekind® material.

  • December 2022

    Biophilica collaborates with BESTSELLER in Fashion for Good pilot to test and validate the ‘leather’ alternative Treekind® as a replacement for conventional footwear materials.

  • 2023

     ID Genève launches watches with straps made from Treekind®.

Samples of Treekind materials.

Image by Biophilica.

 

IMPACT

Treekind® material is compostable, which has now been verified in the ISO 14855-1 home composting test performed by Eurofins Ecotoxicology in France, and it’s currently in the process of becoming USDA certified as 100% biobased. 1kg of Treekind® material uses less than 0.1% of the water used in conventional leather processing, has zero toxic chemicals in its formulation, and because of its plant content, boasts a significantly reduced carbon footprint compared to leather.

COMMERCIAL IMPLEMENTATIONS

Biophilica bag made with Treekind.

Image by Biophilica.

 

WHAT’S NEXT

In the next few months, they will be working on scaling their Treekind® ‘leather’ alternative to a roll-to-roll manufacturing process, which will enable production at scale. They are planning the commercial release of their 100% biobased adhesive and they are working on exciting new brand partnerships.

LINKS

Website: https://www.biophilica.co.uk/ 

Podcast: https://www.businessforgoodpodcast.com/swapping-leaves-for-leather-biophilicas-mira-nameth

Learn more here about Biophilica’s pilot with Fashion for Good partner BESTSELLER to test and validate the ‘leather’ alternative Treekind® as a replacement for conventional footwear materials.

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