Materials Lab @ Keystone 2025 by Ellen MacArthur Foundation
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation is a non-profit organisation that creates evidence-based original research on the benefits of a circular economy, and how it can contribute to solving global challenges like climate change and biodiversity loss. They engage key actors and mobilise system solutions in order to build circular economy capacity, address common barriers to progress, understand the necessary enabling conditions, and pilot circular economy practices.
On 18th & 19th March 2025, at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s annual networking event, Keystone 2025, the global circular economy community gathered in Amsterdam to exchange ideas and accelerate the transition toward a circular economy. Held at the Beurs van Berlage in Amsterdam, the flagship event brought together businesses, policymakers, financial institutions, and academics—key players shaping the future of circular systems.
As part of the event, we curated a Materials Lab, a hands-on exhibition exploring biomaterial innovations. Our aim with the Materials Lab exhibition is to provide an inspiring platform for cross-sector collaboration, reinforcing the importance of partnerships in overcoming systemic challenges. The exhibition highlighted pioneering solutions derived from nature, including Spiber’s protein fiber produced by precision fermentation, Sway’s bio-based plastic alternative made from seaweed, Modern Synthesis’ textiles made by bacteria-produced nanocellulose, Ananas Anam’s textile made from pineapple leaf fiber, Traceless’s natural polymers derived from agricultural waste, and Colorifix’s colors produced by bacteria.
These are just a few of the innovations we showcased—you can find below a list of our exhibitors for this event.
With the urgency to implement circular solutions across industries, events like the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s annual networking event, Keystone 2025 are instrumental in fostering collaboration, sharing best practices, and driving systemic change. We are happy to be part of this momentum—by showcasing the huge potential of bio-based and circular material solutions, the exhibition sparked meaningful discussions and fresh ideas on how industries can move beyond extractive models toward circular, nature-inspired systems.
Materials Lab - Exhibitor Overview
Alicia Valdes
Alicia Valdés is a Paris-based multidisciplinary designer working on the intersection of bio-design, new materials and fashion. Her innovative, 100% bio-based material is created exclusively from renewable resources, with natural rubber as its primary component. The material incorporates food waste such as coffee grounds, oyster shells, and charcoal, effectively turning inevitable urban waste into valuable resources.
Ananas Anam
Ananas Anam is an innovative company that specialises in processing pineapple leaf fibres into traceable textile solutions. The certified B-Corporation brings positive social and environmental impact by repurposing agricultural waste into premium textile-grade fibre.
Arda Biomaterials
A London-based biotech, transforming plant proteins into scalable, cost-effective biopolymers and materials. Their sustainable innovations support fashion, automotive, and packaging — without using animals, rubber, or petrochemicals. Their first innovation, New GrainTM transforms beer and whisky into leather-like materials.
BIOTEXFUTURE
BIOTEXFUTURE is an innovation space funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, BMBF) on biobased textile research. The project is led by the adidas AG and RWTH Aachen University. BIOTEXFUTURE presented their project called BIOTURF, an artificial turf structure made of bio-polyethylene (PE).
Colorifix
Colorifix is revolutionising textile dyeing by using biology instead of harmful chemicals. Their innovative process employs microbes to produce and fix pigments onto fabrics, reducing water and energy consumption. Colorifix uses DNA from color-producing organisms to engineer microbes that generate dyes in a fermentation process, which is then applied directly to fabrics.
Fraxinea
Mushroom based textiles are thin and foam like fabrics, offering a wide range of application opportunities. Fraxinea’s SymbioMat™ is made exclusively from mushrooms and plant fibers; a revolutionary, all-natural raw material obtained through environmentally conscious cultivation and manufacturing processes.
Keel Labs
Keel Labs is a next-generation material company harnessing the power of the ocean to create textile solutions. Their flagship product is KelsunTM fiber, a biobased material made from a biopolymer found in seaweed with applications across the textile industry. KelsunTM fiber is created by pairing seaweed biopolymers with Keel Labs’ proprietary biobased formulations to create a material that easily biodegrades at its end of life.
Kuori
Waste turns Materials – Kuori’s materials are designed to substitute traditional plastics. They leverage food byproducts, such as olive pits and walnut shells to produce novel bio-based, biodegradable, and elastic materials that are kind to earth and high performing. Their granules are particularly suitable for industries such as outdoor equipment, footwear, and automotive, where sustainable materials are increasingly in demand.
Malai Eco
Malai Biomaterials Design is a Slovak-Indian start up specializing in design, development and manufacturing of biocomposite materials based on bacterial cellulose fermented on waste from coconut processing industry.
Modern Synthesis
Modern Synthesis is a biotech company bringing life to new materials. Their proprietary process uses material science to transform bacterial nanocellulose (a natural fibre produced by bacteria) into a new class of responsible textiles.
MushLume Lighting
MushLume is an award-winning biofabricated lighting collection that is GROWN, not manufactured, from hemp and mycelium, the roots of mushrooms. Fusing nature & design, MushLume Lighting elevates interiors while respecting the environment.
MY-THINGS Corp.
MY-THINGS is a biotech startup that offers mycelium-based sustainable materials for brands and manufacturers, enabling them to access eco-friendly materials at reasonable prices and reduce their carbon footprint significantly. MYTHINGS’s mycelium-based vegan leather is a sustainable, high-quality alternative to traditional leather.
Peter Nasielski
Peter Nasielski’s algae panel prototypes mimic the ecological function of corals, living architectures housing photosynthetic microalgae. These panels are designed to host Spirulina (Arthrospira platensis), an edible species of cyanobacteria that capture atmospheric carbon more efficiently than any terrestrial plant.
Reselo
Reselo has developed a patented technology to produce Reselo Rubber, a 100 % biobased elastomer made entirely from birch bark – a waste stream of the forest industry. Reselo Rubber has potential to replace fossil-derived rubbers in various applications, such as footwear, fashion, automotive and tires.
revoltech
MATTR™ is revoltech’s latest breakthrough in sustainable materials, an algae-based material designed to offer a high-performance, sustainable alternative to traditional leather, crafted from algae to be biodegradable, toxin-free, and climate-positive. Its soft, flexible nature offers a perfect balance of comfort and durability, making it an excellent choice for industries like sportswear, fashion, and interiors.
Ruth Loyd
Ruth Lloyd is a London-based researcher and bio-designer. Her practice-led research investigates the potential of pigment producing microorganisms, as solutions and replacements to the global reliance on toxic petroleum-based colour and dye systems with an emphasis on textile printing.
S.Lab
S.Lab produces biodegradable packaging from plant waste and mycelium, offering natural replacement of polystyrene (foamed plastic) with the same thermal insulating and water resistance properties. The best part is, after the usage it fully decomposes in soil in 30 days.
Spiber
Established in 2007, Spiber is a biotech venture company based in Yamagata, Japan, Spiber’s innovation is a premium, plant-based material produced using Spiber’s fermentation (brewing) technology. Brewed Protein™ fibers can be tailored to offer a silk-like sheen and delicacy, a luxurious smooth feel akin to cashmere, or the loftiness of high-quality wool.
St3ms
St3ms™ transforms underutilized banana plant waste into high-performance fibers, optimizing waste while producing clean drinking water as a byproduct. Naturally strong and lightweight, antimicrobial and fire resistant without the use of any chemicals. It can be tuned for a variety of non-woven and composite applications such as automotive, equipment, construction, and home goods.
Sway
Sway, a California-based material innovation company is harnessing the power of seaweed to make compostable replacements for plastic. TPSea™, Sway’s core technology is a certified 100% biobased, thermoplastic pellet made entirely from seaweed and plants.
traceless
traceless® has been designed for the biological cycle with the aim to create a holistic zero-compromise solution, a natural substitute for plastics and bioplastics. Based on leftovers of industrial grain processing, it is fully biobased and free of potential food conflicts. The material technology was developed by the female-founded bioeconomy startup traceless materials, based in Hamburg, Germany.