Can you imagine a world where every material performs not only its function in a product but also serves as a nutrient for the next product while improving the health of people and ecosystems? We imagine it and work on it every day.
That is why Ethica is strengthening its services in the field of new material development with Dr. Meri Lundahl, who has recently joined Ethica as a consultant specialising on circular materials. Her extensive experience from academic, industrial, startup and NGO sectors have made her a deep expert on materials science with also a holistic understanding about the green transition and its practical realisation in organisations.
Meri has worked for the past ten years in R&D of new materials, which is a key factor in the development towards a circular economy in any business based on physical product.
Meri has worked for the past ten years in R&D of new materials, which is a key factor in the development towards a circular economy in any business based on physical product. Her previous accomplishments include the invention of modular absorbent fibres, which enabled, for the first time, continuous fibre spinning from nanocellulose without the need for an organic solvent bath. The fibre production method was designed for circularity from the beginning, employing a removable and reusable support layer (circular within the technical cycle around the absorbent fibre, while the fibre itself is biodegradable and thus can form a closed loop within the biological cycle.
At Ethica, Meri’s upcoming projects include collaborating with Soarce to develop algae-based performance leathers and textile fibres. In practice, she advices Soarce with the optimisation of the molecular and colloidal interactions in the material as well as its surface chemistry in order to achieve the targeted functional properties. Through this work, algae-based textiles can achieve a competitive performance with conventional ones like leather, cotton, polyester or nylon. Using seaweed as a raw material offers various benefits for all the aspects of circular economy, such as:
- Possibility for designing products that are reusable and recyclable and eventually biodegradable
- Alternative to land and resource-intensive options like animal-based leather and cotton
- Eliminating the release of toxins and microplastics
- Eliminating the need for fossil resources
- Possibility to address ecological challenges such as algae blooms and invasive species in oceans by selecting problematic species as a raw material. (Even if algae are purposefully cultivated, their farming is the most environmentally sound form of aquaculture.)
With Meri’s expertise at Ethica, we are better equipped than ever to assist you in overcoming material challenges on your path to a circular economy. Our focus areas include
- Consultation on sustainable material choices
- Developing and prototyping new circular materials
- Developing material libraries
- Identifying the most suitable suppliers for building a circular ecosystem
aiming for solutions that are feasible, viable and desirable
We do this via our usual approach of looking at the organisation and its playing field as a whole and recognising the true needs and the interactions with all the stakeholders, aiming for solutions that are feasible, viable and desirable.
Contact us to discuss how we could help with the materials you need to power your leap into a circular business!
