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Strong wool-based adhesive bandage

Project start: 11 May 2021
Project completed: 29 September 2022
MPI funding: $50,550
Industry funding: $50,500
Industry partner: NewCul
Region: Nationwide

This project successfully developed a prototype strong wool-based adhesive bandage that is 100% biodegradable. The bandage will protect wounds from friction, bacteria, additional damage and dirt, and will be free from petroleum-based products. NewCul received additional SFF Futures funding for Phase 2 of the project, which will work on refining the prototype.

Strong Wool Action Group project

Project start: 1 September 2021
Project completed: December 2021
MPI funding: $2,800,000
Industry funding: $700,000
Industry partner: Strong Wool Action Group Ltd
Region: Nationwide

This project undertook work to deliver a roadmap for the strong wool industry, including identifying new commercial strong wool opportunities. It recommended an enduring business model for the sector.

Hemp R& D Phase 1

Project start: 5 November 2020
Project completed: 24 September 2021
MPI funding: $96,000
Industry funding: $150,000
Industry partner: NZ Yarn Limited
Region: Canterbury

Project summary: This project informed the development of innovative, clean and sustainable technology to produce fit-for-purpose hemp fibre. It tested a range of technologies and evaluated them for their effectiveness and efficiency in separating and processing hemp fibre from the stems. NZ Yarn will use these findings to set up a leading-edge natural fibre processing line.

Woolchemy NZ Ltd

Project start: 14 July 2020
Project completed: 16 August 2021
MPI funding: $79,960
Industry funding: $119,740
Industry partner: Woolchemy NZ Ltd
Region: Wellington

Woolchemy has developed the world’s first wool-based sustainable materials for personal care products, including nappies. The outcomes from nappy trials conducted by several nappy manufacturers during the project proved that Woolchemy’s versatile proprietary materials: provide superior performance compared to equivalent synthetic materials; radically improve the environmental impact of hygiene products; and can be produced at scale via existing manufacturing technology. 

Video: About Woolchemy and nappies (3.37)

00:19 putting wool into non-woven materials  that go into single-use nappies.

00:27 The idea came about when my mother was visiting  me from the farm and she was talking about the  

00:34 woes of the wool industry, something that I’ve  heard for many decades. And it was just at that  

00:40 time I was actually changing my son’s nappy,  and we both kind of realised we go through  

00:46 a lot of nappies when we have children. And  so it was sort of basically that ‘aha’ moment.

00:57 Wool has such wide-ranging health benefits, not  just for nappies but other healthcare products.  

01:05 And what we’ve tapped into is the fact that  wool is naturally renewable, it’s biodegradable  

01:12 and also it has amazing thermal  regulation properties – young  

01:17 babies aren’t able to regulate their temperature.

01:20 And the other thing is odour control.  

01:24 We can use wool to handle neutralising  of odours without adding any chemicals.

01:30 Currently the non-wovens manufacturers are making  materials made from petroleum-based materials  

01:37 like this one here. Very lightweight material but  it’s made of polyethylene, polypropylene – that’s  

01:44 plastic. What we’re doing is we’re getting them  to make these materials which are made of our  

01:51 strong wool, and there’s some plant-based  fibres in there as well – majority is wool. And  

01:59 that is something that is very new to  them. They don’t normally use these fibres  

02:04 and so that is a bit of a challenge.  But we’ve got three amazing  

02:08 manufacturers going on this journey with us  that really understand why we’re using wool.  

02:15 And we’re very lucky, we’ve got a lot of wool here  to use so we’re not going to run out in a hurry.

02:22 We’re actually tapping into a specific layer  called the acquisition distribution layer,  

02:28 and since we’ve actually launched this product,  which we call neweFlex, we’ve actually been asked  

02:34 to also look at some of the other layers. And  so that’s essentially what we will be doing,  

02:39 is looking at every single layer until we  get to that fully biodegradable product.

02:45 What we’re really excited about is that  not only will this money go into a nappy  

02:51 trial for our non-wool/non-wovens but just  by tweaking the formulation of this material  

02:59 we could turn this into wipes, it could be  a wound care product, but also PPE products.

03:05 Our ultimate dream is to make our  company a billion-dollar export company.  

03:14 Our grand view is to bring manufacturing  back to New Zealand to make these products.  

03:18 By doing that we will be helping a lot of  other businesses that are developing products,  

03:23 and developing world export products  that are natural and sustainable.

[End of transcript]

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