Published in: Architettura

Mixcyling, an innovative startup producing Organic Material Blends

Mixcycling, born in Vicenza in the north of Italy, is an innovative startup transforming organic waste into low environmental impact materials through a patent-pending process. Most of the organic waste is scrap generated by local agro-industrial processes, such as rice husks, grape marc, coffee parchment skin, cork, etc.

Image curtesy of Brevetti WAF

Natural fibers recovered from organic industrial waste are blended with recycled, bio-based or virgin polymers. This pre-blend is disinfected by means of a non-thermal plasma technology and is then activated to enhance the adhesion between the fibers and the polymers. The sustainable and aesthetically appealing resulting material is suitable for several sectors of application, including cosmetics packaging, disposables, furniture, automotive and food packaging.

One of the most successful blends is Sughera, a compound obtained by recovering cork waste generated by closures manufacturing processes of Labrenta Srl, Mixcycling’s “mother” company. Starting from this first version, a biodegradable Sughera (Bio-Sughera) has been developed by blending the cork with bio-based polymers.

A Life Cycle Assessment carried out on Mixcycling’s organic blends, proves that these materials feature a low environmental impact. The use of organic waste as secondary raw materials within the Mixcycling process reduces its overall environmental impact.

Image curtesy of Mixcyling