Biomimicry and technology development
The green chemicals company, OrganoClick, has been working with biomimicry and technology development for the last 25 years. It was founded as a spin-off company from Stockholm University and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in 2006. Their vision is a world free from plastic waste and chemical pollution. They have several products on the market, of which one is a binder made from food waste.
– We have several products that are out on the market. If I had to pick one, it would be our new bio-based binders. This one is replacing plastic binders in products, such as hygiene products, napkins, wet wipes and medical products in non-woven materials, says Mårten Hellberg, CEO at OrganoClick.
The bio-based binder is entirely bio-degradable, and it is made from biopolymers from food waste.
– The biopolymers are extracted from orange peels, shrimp shells, oat husk and wheat bran and are used to replace plastic.
The solution for a soft touch is biopolymers from soft shells. The napkin producer Duni recently signed an agreement with OrganoClick.
– Duni is replacing their plastic binders with our bio-based binders, and now they have a product that is 100% compostable at home. This is something they can also use in their marketing.
Combining different biopolymers requires technological development. It has taken ten years of research to understand how to integrate biopolymers from natural raw materials.
– It is possible to bind these kinds of polymers into the cellulose matrix. I think it has massive potential because most of the functionalities we have in materials today have been solved in nature in the past.
Mårten Hellberg believes green chemistry and biomimicry has a future.
– I have a strong feeling that we will solve many of the problems we have created during the last 200 years and that we should keep focusing on the positive initiatives. This is because we have so many solutions at hand. For example, we're working at OrganoClick using solely renewable raw materials.
Non-woven is a material best described as something between paper and textiles. It has many different industrial applications.
Source: OrganoClick