Plastic free Archives - Spot material

Bio-based material developments — so good you could eat them (almost). Healthy, circular, plastic-free natural polymers for sustainable design.

The future of materials looks good when you zoom in on bio-based developments. These materials are wholly or partially derived from plants, trees or animals.... See more

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Bioplastic — the good, the bad and the ugly. What is this group of materials and why are they so promising for sustainable design?

While there is incredible progress and plenty of hope for sustainable industrial materials, companies take advantage of the current complexity and uncertaint... See more

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Exploring ethical colour in fashion and textiles – promising innovations that are helping to reduce the impact of dyeing and finishing textiles.

Luckily some promising innovations are emerging that reduce the negative impacts of dyeing textiles, because the environment pays a high price for the colour... See more

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Going paint-free in automotive design – how to eliminate a very expensive and unsustainable part of the production process with design and materials.

Article coming soon…

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How good is wood – making and building with wood reduces the emissions associated with manufacturing with metal, plastic and concrete.

Wood is an incredible material in so many ways. Optimised by the growing process, its strength comes from the combination of lignin and cellulose organised t... See more

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Lightweight and minimum energy structures – high strength-to-weight materials for design, fashion, automotive and architecture.

The development of lightweight material technologies has led to revolutionary changes in the world around us. While they can be energy demanding in productio... See more

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Magic mushrooms – exploring the huge potential of mycelium biofabrication for design and architecture, and the companies behind the development.

There has been a lot of hype, because it is not often a material comes along that has the potential to revolutionise an industry. The biofabrication of fungu... See more

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Paper packaging’s dirty secrets – how to go plastic free, find alternatives to toxic PFAS, and avoid recycling and composting issues.

Paper is an incredible material that has been around since the Han Dynasty in China. While little has changed in its structure and the way we use it, there h... See more

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Plastic and the circular economy. Recycling is a valuable way to recover resources, but not all recycled plastic is the same.

Plastics surround us, in our clothes, packaging, products, homes, offices and transportation. Since the invention of Bakelite in New York, 1907, synthetic pl... See more

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Sustainable materials in consumer electrical and electronic products – how to design for recycled and recycling to extend the life of materials.

The amount of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) produced each year is around 50 million tonnes (2020) and growing rapidly around the world. Th... See more

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Textile recycling innovation – with less than 1% of fabrics currently recycled, who are the innovators bucking the global trend?

The USD 1.3 trillion global fashion industry consumes huge quantities of raw materials, including natural materials, synthetics and bio-based ingredients. Th... See more

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What the kelp! Exploring this pioneering new breed of materials made from seaweed, including paper, packaging, foams and textiles.

This pioneering new breed of material uses seaweed-based natural polymers, such as alginate, agar and carrageenan. Whereas alginates are mainly extracted fro... See more