SPIWACS: Sustainable PIgments from WAste Cellulose Streams

颜料为许多日常产品增添光泽和色彩。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，它们含有混合的问题材料，如微塑料，矿物氧化物，如二氧化钛和云母，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，目前可提供 ** 植物基、可再生和高性能金属效应着色剂 ** 的技术替代品非常有限。如果没有 ** 颜料技术的根本设计和创新转变 **，对自然环境的直接污染以及石油消费和采掘造成的现有流程和供应链的温室气体排放永远不会被消灭现在很明显，颜料材料在其整个生命周期中都对环境产生负面影响，并且是不可持续的。它们与人类健康的负面影响有关，在环境中积累，并有可能对动物和植物产生毒性。因此，开发真正可持续的替代品的需求尚未得到满足。解决方案现已推出：项目合作伙伴Sparxell（SX）和Impossible Materials（IM）是旨在商业交付 ** 突破性可持续植物颜料 ** 的初创企业：Sparxell开发了独特的新型颜料，使用纤维素衍生的纳米晶体，在没有金属的情况下提供类似金属的效果; Impossible Materials的第一款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高产量的颜料之一-二氧化钛。在这次合作中，我们将通过改造白色颜料（IM）生产中的主要废弃纤维素流，建立一个 ** 新的制造工艺平台 ** 作为金属效果颜料（SX）的主要和唯一成分的功能性纤维素纳米材料。整个过程将受到监测，并由剑桥大学剑桥可持续发展领导力研究所（CISL）进行 ** 从摇篮到摇篮的生命周期分析（LCA）**。这种严格的方法将指导工艺设计和材料的选择，以确保整个生产过程比IM和SX今天使用的单独制造工艺更具可持续性。该项目的总体目标是证明 ** 技术可行性，商业吸引力和可持续性效益 ** 将Impossible Materials的纳米纤维素废物流与Sparxell的原材料投入相结合，为两家公司提供更有利可图和可持续的供应链。

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.