Understanding How To Use Bio and Waste-Based Materials

We were joined by the founding partners of MaterialDriven, a design agency and materials library to learn from Adele and Purva how to and why we should work with so-called "healthy materials": those that are bio-based, waste-based and envelop responsible practices and positive impacts in their production and life cycle.

Recycled materials that come from synthetic-based i.e. fossil fuel feedstocks provide us with a comparative outcome that will slot easily into various applications, including fashion though also stretching to buildings and furniture. When it comes to "biomaterials", "bio-based materials" and "waste-based materials" there is a lot of uncertainty in a realm that feels new. There are innovations abounding here, but in actual fact, a lot of the technology and feedstocks are based on traditional methods and materials, just updated to be, for instance, beneficial in a circular system.

MaterialDriven provide a materials library, education and consultancy for brands and designers across all industries, including architecture, interiors, packaging, fashion and product design. In this lesson, Adele and Purva take us through the exciting materials commercially available on the market, along with considerations to make if you are interested in using them for your own product, and how these less-known feedstocks can have positive impacts socially, economically and environmentally. Along with providing you with a USP, if you can understand how to utilise healthy materials over synthetics or recycled synthetics, it will provide you with a much more creative and systemic approach to design.