UK materials startup Saltyco aims to replace the goosedown and synthetic fibers commonly used in jackets with BioPuff, a new biodegradable and cruelty-free material.
BioPuff is a plant-based fiber with a heat-storing structure that, like feathers, provides warmth, is water resistant, and is lightweight. It is made from reedmace, a plant that grows in marshes and peatlands, which Saltyco sources from a regenerative wetland agriculture project — the UK’s first paludiculture trial.
Based in Salford, northwest England and founded in 2020, Saltyco is a materials science company developing “planet-positive” textiles from plants farmed using regenerative agriculture. The company is actively working with farmers and conservation groups on dual purposed projects: to restore ecosystems and build a sustainable supply chain for the next generation of sustainable clothes.
“Our vision is to build a planet-healing supply chain and that begins with our approach to regenerative agriculture. There’s no single solution to “sustainability”, and our farming reflects this,” says the company.
The materials of the future
The environmental impact of using reedmace as a filler for jackets and other clothes would be a fraction of petroleum or animal-derived fibers. Replacing a single conventional puffer jacket with a BioPuff version could help regenerate ten square meters of land and use 40 kg less carbon dioxide, reports The Guardian. And since Saltyco’s manufacturing process does not involve chemicals, the material is biodegradable and easily compostable.
Saltyco’s manufacturing facility is located near the River Avon in Bristol, where the team develops innovative textiles using mechanical processes and technology. BioPuff material won the H&M Foundation Global Change Award last year, and it was used by the Italian label YOOX in a unique collection.
“It’s no longer enough to be “sustainable” nor does it cover the extent of what our planet needs. Only through true planet-positive design can we begin to build inherent sustainability and environmental healing into the materials of the future,” says Saltyco.
