How Mixcycling creates sustainable “talking” materials

Who is Mixcycling?

Mixcycling Srl is an innovative startup that creates sustainable biocomposites by recovering organic scrap fibers and combining them with polymer bases (carriers) which can be biobased, recycled, virgin, biodegradable, or biodegradable and compostable. Born at the start of 2020, it is a young, dynamic company but with a long history behind it: it originates from a 50 year-old closures producer with a strong background in cork processing and injection moulding. It was from the necessity of recovering a valuable scrap like cork that the Mixcycling® concept was born.

The Triangular Economy

Mixcycling blends are materials that carry an important message of sustainability, calling for a more virtuous use of resources. The blends’ production process itself, which involves nobilitating scraps, is an example of this message, articulated in the concept of Triangular Economy. Introduced by Mixcycling in early 2020, it is meant to complete and add to the popular concept of Circular Economy. Born in contrast to the more ‘traditional’ idea of a linear economy, where a product is made, used, and thrown away, the circular economy model advocates for a better use of resources, so after being consumed the product is recovered or parts of it are recycled and are put back into the production process. Mixcycling has made this concept even more virtuous and has produced the first materials of the triangular economy: using a client’s production scraps, the startup was able to create a new blend which could be used to make packaging for the same product which had generated the scrap.

Partner in sustainability

Mixcycling aims to be not a mere producer of materials, but rather a sustainability project partner. The creation of an ecosystem based on partnerships and open innovation is a fundamental aspect of Mixcycling’s business proposition. The startup accompanies its partner through every step of the project's realisation: not only does it produce and design “tailor-made” blends, customised for the partner’s desired application, but it also offers support in identifying sustainable solutions.

Mixcycling and design

Because of its attention to material design, Mixcycling seeks to dialogue with the world of product and interior design. The sector has not been immune to the growing push towards sustainability which has been influencing the global economy. Concepts like eco design, which call for an attention towards the environment starting from the initial conceptualisation and design of the product, prove it. Sustainable, recyclable materials, perhaps from renewable sources and with a low environmental impact are naturally at the centre of this vision, which has been adopted by the European Union for years now.

Here Mixcycling blends can give an important contribution: the startup measures its products’ impacts through a Life Cycle Assessment, in order to be able to provide a concrete demonstration of their sustainability. Even the aesthetic aspect is functional to the message: the fibers are clearly visible within the blends, thus emphasising the central role of nature within the Mixcycling project. R&D is crucial: the blends are developed specifically for the desired final application so as to guarantee the best possible solution both from a sustainability and a technical standpoint.