How intercepting textile, food waste can save the environment
Startups with eye on sustainability look to scale up and multiply impact globally
Fifteen years of working in their father’s waste-management company led Lindsay Lorusso and her twin sister, Alex, to create Nudnik, a unisex kid’s clothing line made from waste fabric from textile manufacturing.
“We literally grew up in the waste-management industry,” she says. “We learned that in waste management there are huge issues that fly under the radar.”
One of those issues is textiles. After establishing Nudnik in 2016, “I was seeing reports on textiles polluting landfill sites, with no available solutions. So I decided to investigate the issue of how they could be intercepted.”
Her research turned up some staggering numbers. “We create 400 billion square metres of textiles a year. Of that, 15 per cent ends up as cutting waste. That’s enough waste to create six adult size T-shirts for every person on the planet every year.”
Beyond the cutting waste, there’s also the water consumption. “It takes 2,700 litres of water to make one new T-shirt — that’s the same amount the average person drinks over three years. We saw this as an incredible opportunity to make a difference.”
They canvassed local clothing designers and producers to collect gently used or unused textiles that would normally end up in waste streams. They then use the fabric to create colourful children’s clothing.
While output has been on a small scale, Nudnik is set to grow, Lorusso says. “At a startup demo, we met someone who was going to work for their family business in Bangladesh and was interested in bringing sustainability to the industry.”
A pilot project has resulted in which they source the cuttings from the factory and use the same site for their production. “We are now able to work in volume, which up to now has been a problem.”
With the new approach, she believes the business can grow tenfold. “We’re on the cusp of really starting to run the true business we always wanted to run. We are turning environmental cost into revenue by producing products with the manufacturer. Our plan is to do the same with local manufacturers.”
Textiles are just the beginning for their new business approach, Lorusso adds. “The model with Bangladesh is a big achievement in proving how can create major cash flow. We can potentially work with manufacturers using other materials like wood and metals to make toys. The possibilities are endless.”
For Luna Yu, food waste is her target of choice. As the founder and CEO of Genecis Bioindustries Inc. in Toronto, she and her team have been working since 2016 on repurposing organic waste using synthetic biology.
Food waste numbers are huge, she says. “Every single year, $1 trillion worth of food is thrown away globally. In North America, over 40 per cent of all food produced ends up waste and in landfill.”
They started out using organic waste to create bio-gas, but soon realized the bacteria was slow moving and it would be unprofitable. In looking for other options, they decided on producing a degradable PHA biopolymer that can be used in high-end applications such as 3D printing filaments at a 40 per cent lower cost than current commercial offerings.
Yu says the ability to use synthetic biology on organic waste could extend beyond 3D printing filaments to produce materials used in fragrances, cosmetics and pharmaceutical production. “We can apply big data, machine learning and genetic modifications to create new bacteria to eat food waste and produce high-value chemicals.” One potential example is ambroxide, a rare chemical found only in the stomach of sperm whales, which sells for up to 20,000 euros per kilo.
Since starting operations, they have won more than $350,000 from pitch competitions and government grants, and closed a micro seed round in early 2018 for $280,000. “For our next round we are looking for at least $1.5 million and matching funds from the government as well.”
The better part of 2017 at Genesis was spent working on scaling the research to the point at which they can establish a demonstration production plant, she says.
The business model moving forward will not be focused on building plants, but licensing the technology to waste companies to generate royalties, she says.
Genesis’s solution has also gained attention from operations in China and Kuwait seeking solutions for organic waste beyond composting. “Composting takes up to six months to complete and produces a low-value fertilizer anyone can make,” Yu says. “Our entire cycle produces high-quality materials and finishes in five to seven days … for now. I’m sure we can get that down further.”