As we’ve explored with the marine-based sustainable materials fish skin leather, the crossover between sustainable trend and meals is turning into extra commonplace.
Seaweed, often known as kelp, has lengthy been linked to each sustainability and well being advantages, due to its nutrient density and abundance in our oceans. Iron, calcium, iodine, nutritional vitamins A, C, E, and B12, plus antimicrobial and anti inflammatory properties, make it a wealthy useful resource for human wellbeing.
However what precisely is seaweed material?
First, be aware that kelp material is just not purely seaweed. It’s a semisynthetic material produced by spinning the pure cellulose of beech or eucalyptus timber along with seaweed to create a gentle, stretchy, sturdy yarn that may be woven into textiles. Consider it as lyocell fabric with seaweed added for additional performance.
Beech and eucalyptus timber (the identical issues used to make modal fabric and lyocell, respectively) are identified for his or her regenerative properties and stay usable post-harvest, that means they are often sourced once more.
The seaweed used for cloth is normally brown Knotted Wrack (Ascophyllum nodosum) from Icelandic fjords, though some producers additionally work with Horsetail kelp or Sargassum. The ensuing material is biodegradable, absorbent, gentle, and breathable.
There are at present two most important approaches to seaweed textiles, every with a special expertise:
SeaCell™ Seaweed Material
Probably the most established seaweed material in the marketplace, SeaCell™ is produced by German firm Smartfiber AG. It makes use of a modified lyocell course of (the identical closed-loop expertise behind TENCEL™) to embed dried, powdered natural brown algae into cellulose fibers.
In keeping with Smartfiber AG’s FAQ page, SeaCell comprises roughly 4% seaweed by weight, and >85% cellulose.
SeaCell carries certifications from EU Ecolabel (held since 2014), OEKO-TEX Customary 100 (licensed secure even for baby products), and TÜV Austria for compostability. Its manufacturing course of received the European Enterprise Awards “Course of Innovation” underneath the Surroundings class. Smartfiber AG has additionally held a lyocell license from Lenzing Group, and SeaCell fibers are produced at Lenzing’s facilities in Austria.
Kelsun™ Seaweed Material
The newer participant on the scene is Kelsun™, produced by North Carolina-based Keel Labs (previously AlgiKnit, rebranded in 2022). Not like SeaCell, which provides seaweed powder to a lyocell fiber, Kelsun takes a essentially completely different method. It extracts alginate, a biopolymer present in seaweed, and makes use of a proprietary wet-spinning course of to create fibers from that biopolymer straight.
Kelsun is 100% biobased and USDA-certified, biodegradable in wastewater, and designed as a “plug-and-play” alternative for standard fibers on present textile equipment. Keel Labs closed a $13 million Series A funding round in 2022 (with H&M Group’s Co:Lab among the many traders) and scaled production 10x through 2024.
In October 2024, Kelsun was named “Innovation of the Year” by Textile Change at its Local weather & Nature Influence Awards.
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