Natural Selections

Balancing synthetic biology with sustainable materials production

That Hermès handbag everyone wants, is it made from mushroom leather or shrimp leather? If you’re perplexed by the question, you’re not alone. But as synthetic biology continues to produce more replacements for traditional materials, shoppers will grow more and more accustomed to goods made from sustainable alternatives. Some of the biggest brands in the world – names like Nike, L’Oréal, and Unilever – are stepping up their biomanufacturing efforts. As they scale, they’ll lower their carbon footprints significantly.

Natural Alternatives

“We urgently need to fix our relationship with fashion to halt unsustainable agricultural practices,” Carry Somers, co-founder of Fashion Revolution, told the Guardian. “We need to look towards circular economy alternatives, including the use of agricultural residues to create bioleathers.”

That’s been the driving force behind synthetic biology products like the Hermès Victoria, a bag from a fine mycelium mushroom leather called Sylvania that the longtime trendsetter launched in 2021.

“It’s more than a new material – it’s a manufacturing breakthrough that gives designers new levels of customization and creative control,” Sophia Wang, co-founder of Sylvania producer MycoWorks, told the Guardian.

It’s hardly alone among bioleathers. TômTex makes a mushroom-based leather and biodegradable “shrimp leather” from chitosan, a carbon-neutral plastic derived from the exoskeletons of crustaceans. Chitosan is both abundant and versatile, featuring in items such as clothing and wallets. Desserto makes cactus-based bioleathers.

Ananas Anam’s Piñatex pineapple-leaf leather features in upholstery, accessories, outerwear, and shoes like Nike’s Happy Pineapple Air Force 1s. The use of alternative bioleathers is part of Nike’s Move to Zero initiative aimed at becoming carbon- and waste-free.

“Design is a connecting tool between people, economics, and the environment – and out of this communion, understanding, and respect, new ideas and products with integrity can come about,” Ananas Anam founder Dr. Carmen Jiosa said.

Kicking Carbon

Many of these biomanufactured materials have carbon footprints that are significantly lower than similar products made from petrochemicals – up to 70% lower when using feedstocks such as cane sugar or corn syrup. When the manufacturers focus on actually removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere rather than simply not adding more, the results are even more astounding, with carbon footprint reductions of up to 90%.

Carbon recycler LanzaTech takes CO2 and feeds it to bacteria in bioreactors. The bacteria convert it to ethanol, which can then be converted into polyester. Its production site in Belgium operated in conjunction with ArcelorMittal generates more than 20 million gallons of ethanol annually. LanzaTech and Technip Energies won a Department of Energy award for up to $200 million to produce sustainable ethylene from CO2.

“Spurring on the next generation of decarbonization technologies in key industries like steel, paper, concrete, and glass will keep America the most competitive nation on Earth,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said. “These investments will slash emissions from these difficult-to-decarbonize sectors and ensure American businesses and American workers remain at the forefront of the global economy.”

You might think there’s not much good to be found in a sewer, but Mango Materials takes methane captured from wastewater and feeds it to microorganisms to make PHA, a biodegradable polymer. Mango Materials PHA has been used in Allbirds shoes and Stella McCartney sunglasses.

“We’re working on a carbon negative process,” co-founder and chief technology officer Allison Pieja commented,. “Our analyses show it should be carbon negative when running at full scale.”

Bold Goals

Running at full scale is the key for biomanufactured materials to take off. The abundance of biomaterials and the surge in automation, along with increased investment are enabling synthetic biology to scale, which in turn leads to more investment dollars coming in.

MycoWorks raised $125 million in 2023 to fund the world’s first fine mycelium production plant. Automation at the plant has cut the human labor required by a whopping 92%. Solugen’s Bioforge converts corn syrup biomass into commercial chemicals on a large scale using engineered enzymes.

Government investment like the award LanzaTech won is helping the pace of scaling along. The Bold Goals for U.S. Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing call for the replacement of 30% of petrochemicals with biochemicals in 20 years.

“The world is on the cusp of an industrial revolution fueled by biotechnology and biomanufacturing. Emerging biological technologies are and will continue to transform the foundation of our physical world – everything from clothing, to plastics, to fuels, to concrete. Through biomanufacturing, sustainable biomass across the United States can be converted into new products and provide an alternative to petroleum-based production for chemicals, medicines, fuels, materials, and more,” the Bold Goals state.

The revolution is underway, and top brands are leading the vanguard.