Colourful Futures: Business Modelling and Climate Impact Assessment for Food-waste Dyes
The average person in the UK comes into contact with synthetically dyed goods multiple times on a daily basis. They are in the clothes we wear, the bedding we sleep in, the cosmetics we apply to our faces, and the food we eat. These dyes are derived from petroleum and coal-tar, they promote the continued consumption of fossil fuels, and they are inherently unsustainable.
The global market for dyes and pigments is $38 billion (2022) and in the textiles sector alone, synthetic dye pollution accounts for 80% of the industry's total emissions \[Lellis-2019\]. Chemical dye effluent is dumped into waterstreams causing contamination, killing aquatic biota, damaging soil, and contaminating the food chain/drinking supply. Workers and local populations experience effects such as bladder-cancer, infertility, nervous-system disorders and rashes amongst many other side effects \[Khan,Malik,2018\]. Recent research shows wearers can experience skin-burns, asthma, auto-immune diseases and cumulative-toxicity with carcinogenic, mutagenic and reprotoxic effects \[Wicker,2023\].
The industry however has limited solutions and continues to rely on synthetic-dyes. There is an urgent need for a cost-effective and scalable solution which can rapidly tackle this vast problem.
**SAGES DYES**
SAGES create natural, biodegradable, non-polluting and non-toxic dyes derived from food-waste. We utilise UK food-waste streams such as onions skins, avocado pits, and red cabbages to extract vibrant dyes. These dyes can achieve the performance standards of synthetic dyes and are cost-effective.
To date, SAGES focus has predominantly been on the textiles market however we are facing growing demand from the paints, inks, packaging and cosmetics industry to adapt our solution to meet their needs. This project focuses on building out a commercialisation plan with a focus on licensing, completing market research in untapped markets where demand has already been identified, and gathering environmental impact data. This information will accelerate the pace at which we can scale and allow access into a wide variety of markets.
Revolutionising Color Creation: Pioneering an End-to-End Manufacturing Process for Food Waste derived Natural Dyes
The textiles industry is the second most polluting in the world. Synthetic dye pollution is the silent culprit accounting for 80% of the industry's total emissions \[Lellis-2019\].
The global market for textile-dyes is £9.1billion (2022) with 98.5% of dyes being synthetic. These dyes are used in everything including clothing, accessories, furniture and bedding. They are derived from either coal-tar or petroleum-based intermediates \[Modor, 2023\] are inherently unsustainable, and wreak havoc on the environment and human health.
Chemical dye effluent is dumped into waterstreams causing contamination, killing aquatic biota, damaging soil, and contaminating the food chain/drinking supply. Workers and local populations experience effects such as bladder-cancer, infertility, nervous-system disorders and rashes amongst many other side effects \[Khan,Malik,2018\]. Recent research shows wearers can experience skin-burns, asthma, auto-immune diseases and cumulative-toxicity with carcinogenic, mutagenic and reprotoxic effects\[Wicker,2023\].
The industry however continues to rely on synthetic-dyes. This is attributable to the fact that alternatives have not been able to achieve the levels of **brightness**, **longevity** and **consistency** as synthetic-dyes.
Current alternatives are existing traditional natural dyes which are **inconsistent** and **expensive** due to their use of farmland, algae dyes, which **lack UV resistance** and have a **limited colour palette**, and microbial dyes, which are **complicated to integrate** and **pale in colour**.
These alternatives have not been able to satisfy industry needs and there is a desperate requirement for natural, biodegradable, and commercially-viable dyes.
**SAGES DYES**
SAGES create **natural, biodegradable, non-polluting** and **non-toxic** dyes **derived from food-waste**. We utilise UK food-waste streams such as onions skins, avocado pits, and red cabbages to extract vibrant dyes which can be used to colour textiles.
This project will see SAGES face its largest hurdle in combining lab-tested extraction/filtration methods into an end-to-end process, scaling from 100g/day lab-scale batches to commercial-scale quantities of 5kg/day.
Development of SAGES dyes for commercial applications on cellulose applications.
This project is a collaboration between SAGES and Cranfield University. The project focuses testing and developing three different methods for the pre-treatment stage of the cellulose dyeing process.
SAGES is a textiles industry start up making natural dyes from food waste. These dyes are a natural, circular solution to the harmful synthetic dyes the industry currently uses. 5 dye colours have been selected for further development in this project Pink, Yellow, Blue, Green, Dark Purple.
_**The problem of synthetic dyes**_
Although dyes have been known to mankind since ancient times , it was not until the late nineteenth century that synthetic forms began to be manufactured, causing a range of human health issues including high incidence of bladder cancer, \[Christie, 2007\] and diseases such as dermatitis and disorders of the central nervous system \[Khan & Malik,2018\].
The Fashion Industry is now the second most polluting industry in the world and '80% of the total emissions' are caused by the liquid waste created during the dyeing process \[Lellis,2019\]. Toxic chemicals and heavy metals are used as pre-treatments and make it difficult for waste effluent to be effectively cleaned. This is a major problem in countries which still dominate the dyeing industry like China, Bangladesh, Thailand and Indonesia.
Natural textile dyes such as madder root and indigo can seem to be an obvious solution however these are rarely used commercially due to their inconsistencies in colour, and tendency to fade. In addition, they require farmland which could otherwise be used for food, to grow the raw materials they require.
SAGES dyes solve these problems that exist within the dyeing industry by creating natural dyes that:
1. Create minimal to no liquid waste
2. Are vibrant and resistant to fading
3. Use an environmentally friendly fixing agent and extraction methods
4. Use food waste as a resource