👕 10 pitfalls and possibilities to scaling new materials

How often do you stop to think about what the items you see and use in your day-to-day life are made out of?

If the global fashion industry was a country it would be the 7th largest CO2 emitter in the world. And the cement and plastic industries would fare even worse, in 3rd and 6th place respectively. 

So it’s no surprise the materials sector is facing mounting pressure to reduce its environmental impact. Meanwhile the demand for sustainable alternatives continues to grow - both from consumers and regulation. 

The hope for new material is that it can scale up while reducing the environmental impact of legacy materials production, much of which is still reliant on toxic chemicals and fossil fuels. 

What’s holding us back from scaling high-performing, sustainable new materials?

We spoke to 10 industry insiders to hear where the bottlenecks are for new material breakthroughs and the impact potential these technologies can have when widely adopted.

Plus, we pulled together a list of 200 startups who are already making ground in the race to decarbonise materials. Get to know the early adopters, trail blazers and moonshot thinkers here.

5 Pitfalls

Pushing for Commercialization

Bringing new materials to market involves transforming research and sustainable resources into commercially viable products that meet industry demands and consumer needs.

Stephanie Lipp at MycoFutures tells us, “one challenge is the push to commercialize as quickly as possible, often while completing R&D but that makes it hard to sell customers on a product that is in progress and would most benefit from patient capital and honest feedback from those who are most familiar with its applications.”

Ensuring Transparency

The sustainability benefits of new materials depends on various factors, including the feedstock used and whether production methods still partly depend on petrochemicals.

“If a material is being marketed as a more sustainable choice, making sure the data behind it is solid, something that’s even more important with the EU green claims directive. For carbon footprints, there’s good free tools, like the EcoReport tool from the EU to help with supporting data,” explains Will Proud, Sustainability Consultant.

“There is an abundance of greenwashing and mixed messaging within the industry. As the ‘new materials’ space grows, terminology naturally evolves and flexes, however, it can be hard to keep up, particularly for consumers. As a result, excitement in innovation can be tempered with scepticism. To overcome these challenges, transparency is key. Xampla uses a Morro marque to symbolize that the materials are made from plants, completely plastic-free and fully biodegradable,” says Alexandra French at Xampla

Overcoming Regulation 

The challenges of regulating new materials includes balancing innovation with safety, navigating evolving environmental standards, and ensuring compliance across global markets.

“As an industry, we need to address regulatory standards favoring traditional construction materials and the time it takes to create green building codes. We are working with architects, engineers, and industry groups in our markets to show regulators the benefits of green materials. This is an area where we need increased collaboration within the sector,” explains Sam Rosmarin of African Bamboo.

Funding CapEx-Intensive Infrastructure

High CapEx is required to build FOAK biomanufacturing plants and scale up production of new materials.

“Climate innovation combined with material science is one of the most difficult visions to "sell" to investors, as it requires giant CapEx to get running, and results won't be seen early on for sure. That does not, and should not, stop people from investing, but makes it tedious,” notes Sean Sukonik at Thunder.vc

Designing for End of Life

Not all alternative materials are 100% biobased or petroleum-free. There is often a lack of thought as to the end-of-life of these materials, as they can often be both un-recyclable and non-biodegradable composites of many different materials. 

“New materials that contain petroleum-based plastics just add to the plastic pollution problem. Alternative leather, for example, that is made of mixed substances won't degrade, it will just end up in landfill so they add to our waste problem,” Sonalie Figueiras of Green Queen Media and Source Green points out.

5 Opportunities

Advancing New Policy 

The need for effective dialogue between innovators and policymakers is crucial to foster a supportive environment to enable the development of new materials.

“We are seeing legislative shifts to try to encourage the development of lower-impact materials while also institutionalizing the rules about what types of materials are preferred. Often, innovators in this space may not have the time or resources to engage in conversations with policymakers. Finding a way to engage in these conversations is a massive opportunity for innovators to help ensure that emerging policy, both incentives, and regulations, is supportive of novel materials and doesn't create unnecessary hurdles in the already challenging scaling process,” highlights Shannon Parker of True Materialist.

Driving Social Impact

Scaling new materials requires a focus on social impact, as it drives consumer acceptance and ensures that innovations improve community well-being and better access to sustainable solutions.

“Our impact goes beyond environmental sustainability. Kubik actively contributes to social development by empowering local communities, particularly women, through employment opportunities in plastic recycling and construction. By engaging women in these roles, we promote gender equality and economic empowerment,” notes Kidus Asfaw of Kubik.

Unlocking New Partnerships

Collaboration among stakeholders can enhance resources, share expertise, and accelerate the transition to sustainable solutions as we reach a tipping point.

“We need to collaborate, and we would like to collaborate with more brands as we have shown through our partnership with H&M. We also want to collaborate with policy makers. Today’s infrastructure is not set up to make recycling a circular business happening at scale,” shares Dennis Nobelius of Syre.

Putting Nature First

Nature-first materials are on the rise as the need to promote a circular economy while minimizing and restoring ecological impact gains traction.

“The exciting and advantageous benefits of SynBio innovation are the eco-positive impacts of harnessing natural processes. Nature is inherently regenerative and it is more exciting to work with nature rather than against it as we have for so long,” says Stephanie Lipp at MycoFutures.

Beginning of a New Era for Materials

 We are at a pivotal moment for new materials, where fresh solutions prioritize sustainability and challenge traditional practices across a wide range of industries.

“We now see emerging companies using mycelium to bind inorganic materials, like rock aggregates. Although at an early stage, this innovation will open up a new paradigm for mycelium-based materials targeting the construction market, most of which is built upon the old school fossil-based recipes. Essentially, these mycelium-based materials will bring the essence of nature into our homes,” shares Mridul Pareek of European Circular Bioeconomy Fund.

Meet the Climate Deep Tech Community IRL

Come and join us at the HackSummit in New York (12-13th December).

600 industry mavericks and disruptors behind novel climate tech solutions are heading to New York at the end of 2024 for two days of networking and deal making across all things climate deep tech.

Ready to discover more? Head this way to see who’s speaking and what’s planned.

P.S. Code FUTURE20 gets you 20% off your pass.

Get to know 200+ startups working on the future of new materials

Head this way to see all 200 companies in new materials.

Is your startup missing? Add them in <30 seconds here