As of late even area of interest industries have involved souls on the lookout for extra eco-friendly choices for supplies and processes, from washing machine waste to artificial wool. Lingrove is taking over laminates — skinny layers of wooden and different supplies — with a carbon-negative possibility that they declare performs higher whereas trying nearly as good.
Laminates or veneers are frequent in each residence and automotive: they’re the skinny ornamental wooden or what have you ever that sits on high of the molded or printed physique of a dashboard, equipment and even residence trim. It’s ubiquitous and, sadly, not all the time sustainably sourced or manufactured.
Lingrove has developed a wooden veneer various out of flax fiber and plant-based resins that’s carbon-negative but ends in a cloth they are saying is “very high stiffness, durable, and resistant,” i.e. to the touch, temperature and different supplies (like espresso). They name it “ekoa” — sure, in lowercase — and hope to make inroads in automobiles and different inside surfaces with a brand new $10 million funding spherical.
The Collection B spherical was led by Lewis & Clark Agrifood and Diamond Edge Ventures, with participation from Bunge Ventures and SOSV.
The corporate contends that not solely is its materials higher for the surroundings and nearly as good or higher when it comes to power and so forth, however that it will possibly positively have an effect on air high quality indoors. Recycled plastic and different repurposed supplies are a preferred use for issues like cabinetry and trim, however they usually lack the look, hardness or different qualities fascinating for such surfaces, and in some instances can offgas appreciable quantities (that’s your “new car smell”).
Picture Credit: Lingrove
“We have a healthy-air, low-carbon, high-performing and beautiful product,” stated CEO Joe Luttwak. “Using post industrial feedstock can, in some cases, be positive for the environment; however many of those byproducts are still emitting VOCs [volatile organic compounds] which are detrimental for indoor air quality, and they are not able to be made into high-performing materials.”
ekoa supplies carry out properly, don’t seep bizarre gases into your kitchen or automotive’s cabin and look so much like common wooden. It may be tweaked to have numerous shades or opacities, and usually has all the benefits that synthetic laminates have whereas being carbon destructive and could be floor up and reused when retired.
Picture Credit: Lingrove
You could marvel, as I did, why not use precise wooden — issues like sawdust and wooden chips already popping out of commercial wood-handling processes? These, Luttwak stated, are completely good structural supplies — i.e. what’s in the course of a board — however usually are not ornamental. There’s a cause MDF boards and the like are inclined to have at the very least one aspect coated by a veneer: the inside wood-glue combine isn’t engaging or significantly proof against issues like solvents and oils.
Veneers aren’t precisely essentially the most high-profile or thrilling enterprise to tackle, nevertheless it’s all the time encouraging to see innovation happening in corners of industries the place a wise various can scale to hundreds of thousands of merchandise and make them at the very least a shade much less wasteful.
The brand new funding ought to assist take the startup from small-scale in-house manufacturing to assembly all their preorders and increasing into the automotive world.
