SPIWACS: Sustainable PIgments from WAste Cellulose Streams

颜料为许多日常用品增添了光泽和色彩。它们在化妆品、时装、包装、油漆甚至食品中无处不在。然而，按照目前的配方，它们含有各种有问题的材料，如微塑料、二氧化钛和云母等矿物氧化物，以及高温室气体精炼金属。采掘业是一个主要的环境和社会问题，目前提供**植物性、可再生和高性能金属效果着色剂的技术替代方案非常有限。如果没有**颜料技术的根本设计和创新转变**，石油消费和采掘业带来的对自然环境的直接污染以及现有工艺和供应链产生的温室气体排放将永远无法消除。现在很明显，颜料材料在其整个生命周期内都会对环境产生负面影响，而且是不可持续的。它们与对人类健康的负面影响有关，在环境中积累，并有可能对动植物生命有害。因此，开发真正可持续的替代品的需求尚未得到满足。解决方案现已可用：项目合作伙伴Sparxell(SX)和Impact Material(IM)是旨在**基于植物的突破性可持续颜料的商业交付**的初创公司：Sparxell开发了独特的新颜料，使用纤维素衍生的纳米晶体提供不含金属的类似金属的效果；不可能材料公司的第一个产品是一种纤维素衍生的白色颜料，解决了最具环境问题和最大量的颜料之一-二氧化钛。在这次合作中，我们将建立一个**新的制造工艺平台**，通过将生产白色颜料(IM)的主要废纤维素流转化为功能性纤维素纳米材料，这些纳米材料是金属效果颜料(SX)的主要和唯一成分。整个过程将受到监控，并由剑桥大学剑桥可持续发展领导研究所(CISL)进行**从摇篮到摇篮的生命周期分析(LCA)**。这一严格的方法将指导工艺设计和材料选择，以确保整个生产流程比IM和SX目前使用的单独制造流程更具可持续性。该项目的总体目标是展示将Impact Material的纳米纤维素废料流与Sparxell的原材料投入相结合的**技术可行性、商业吸引力和可持续性优势**，为两家组织提供更有利可图和更可持续的供应链。

Pigments add shine and colour to a multitude of daily products. They are ubiquitous in cosmetics, fashion, packaging, paints, and even food. However, as currently formulated, they contain a mix of problematic materials such as microplastics, mineral oxides, like titania and mica, and high GHG refined metals. Extractive mining is a major environmental and social concern for which there are currently very limited technological alternatives that would offer **plant-based, renewable and high performance metallic-effect colourants**.Without **a fundamental design and innovation shift in pigment technology**, direct pollution to the natural environment and GHG emissions from existing processes and supply chains enabled by petroleum consumption and extractive mining will never be eliminated. It is now clear that pigment materials have a negative impact on the environment across their entire life cycle and are not sustainable. They are associated with negative human health effects, are accumulating in the environment and have the potential to be toxic to animal and plant life. Therefore, there is an unmet need to develop truly sustainable alternatives.The solution is now available: the project partners Sparxell (SX) and Impossible Materials (IM) are start-ups aimed at the commercial delivery of **breakthrough sustainable pigments based on plants**: Sparxell has developed unique new pigments using cellulose-derived nanocrystals to deliver metal-like effects without metal; Impossible Materials' first product is a cellulose-derived white pigment, addressing one of the most environmentally problematic and high-volume pigments - titanium dioxide.In this collaboration, we will build a **new manufacturing process platform** by transforming the primary waste cellulose stream from the production of white pigments (IM) into functional cellulose nanomaterials that are the main and sole ingredient of metallic-effect pigments (SX).The overall process will be monitored and accompanied by a **cradle-to-cradle life cycle analysis (LCA)** performed by the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL), University of Cambridge. This rigorous approach will guide the process design and choice of materials to ensure that the overall production process is significantly more sustainable than the separate manufacturing processes used today by IM and SX.The overall aim of this project is to demonstrate the **technical viability, commercial attractiveness and sustainability benefits** of coupling Impossible Materials' nanocellulose waste stream to Sparxell's raw materials inputs to deliver a more profitable and sustainable supply chain for both organizations.