How do we feed a growing global population on limited resources? What are the solutions to our unsustainable approach to fashion? These were some of the challenges posed at the recent annual conference of the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre (IBioIC) in Glasgow.
Industrial Biotechnology is where biological feedstocks are used to derive chemicals and materials we use in our day to day lives such as alternatives to plastics, food additives, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals. These feedstocks could be for example algae, seaweed, wood pulp or bi-products from the food and agriculture industry.
To sustainably provide high quality and healthy protein to meet the growing population we need new sources of protein for human consumption and more sustainable sources to feed livestock and farmed fish.
The conference explored a number of opportunities.
- Development of alternative sources of protein derived from processes such as fermenting grain or even waste carbon dioxide and hydrogen to produce fish feed to replace unsustainable alternatives such as soya.
- Small scale farm-based grass biorefineries that can produce feed with a much higher protein content than conventional silage thus enabling the cattle to be fed more efficiently.
- Intercropping of grains and legumes such as barley and peas to reduce the need for nitrogen fertiliser reducing polluting run off and the costs and emissions associated with fertilizer production.
Globally, 200billion garments are purchased annually, 85% of waste textiles go to landfill and washing of synthetic garments flushes 500,000 tonnes of microfibers into the ocean each year. Industrial Biotechnology has a role to play in providing sustainable solutions for textiles, dyes and finishing chemicals for clothes and finding ways to recycle used garments.
Potential solutions discussed at the conference included:
- Growth in the small but growing market of clothes leasing.
- The use of natural fibres to generate new fashion textiles such as recyclable fibres from wood pulp
- Using more natural products in cosmetics such as the use of waste from blackcurrant juice production to make hair dye
- The need to consider garment lifecycle and sustainability right at the beginning of the design process.
At Circular North-east we are interested in talking to companies that have ideas in these areas as this will help support the move towards a circular economy while reducing carbon emissions in the supply chain to develop long-term sustainable solutions to sectors that have evolved in a largely unsustainable way.
