It is estimated that over 10 million tons of plastic enter the oceans each year. Wet wipes and baby diapers are some of the most common sources of plastic waste. Based on more than 15 years of research and development, OrganoClick has developed biobased and biodegradable binders based on shrimp shells and cellulose that can replace plastic binders in these materials.

OrganoClick was founded in 2006 as a spin-off based on two professors’ research at Stockholm University and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. Their fundamental research on the natural chemical processes, so-called biomimicry, dates to the mid-1990s, and led to the creation of biobased, biodegradable binders for nonwovens based on naturally occurring biopolymers extracted from waste streams from the food industry, such as corn, wheat, lemon peels and shrimp shells. “These biobased binders can replace currently used plastic binders and thus help nonwoven companies in their sustainability journey towards producing 100% biobased and home compostable nonwoven products,” says OrganoClick’s R&D director Maria Wennman, PhD.

According to Wennman, conventional binders are built up of fossil (oil) based monomers engineered and synthesized to different plastic polymers. OrganoClick produces binders that have the same performance compared to many commercially available plastic binders, but in some cases, they cannot meet the requirements for certain applications.

The role of the binders is mainly to build up the strength of the fiber web while contributing to the right hand feel, and also providing the right level of hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity of the nonwoven material.

When developing the binders, nature itself was the biggest inspiration for raw material sourcing. “Both shrimp shells and trees are built up of strong structures with strong chemical bonds between biopolymers which we are now mimicking in our binder technologies,” she says.

The right biopolymers and biomolecules are extracted from the shells or fruit peels and thereafter purified to >99% purity. After that, the right combination of various biopolymers and biomolecules is blended in order for them to react with the nonwoven fibers in the right way for every application, Wennman explains.

Wetlaid, airlaid and chemically bonded carded nonwovens all use binders in various degrees. As of now, OrganoClick’s biobased binders are commercially used in tabletop, hygiene products, home textile, packaging and agricultural textiles. OrganoClick is also in the process of implementing its binders in dry and wet wipes. “These products are single-use and shall therefore be discarded right after use or designed to decompose during usage,” Wennman says. “Here, a home compostable binder can be used with great advantage.”

For agricultural textiles, many thousands of tons of plastics are discarded and create microplastics on farmlands while nonwovens with OrganoClick’s binders will degrade into soil. “Many of our binders are also classified as plastic-free according to the EU’s Single-Use Plastic Directive and when combined with a cellulosic fiber, the nonwoven can then be classified as plastic-free,” she adds.

Wennman says there have been many challenges in going from the lab to the industrial scale. One has been to scale up both its own production as well as the processes at its suppliers to get the right biopolymers purified with stable quality. Another challenge has been to implement the biobased binders in its customers’ nonwoven production. “There are certain differences in comparison with the traditional plastic binders which have needed some adjustments in how to use them in nonwoven machines,” she explains. “However, with good collaboration with both suppliers and customers, we have been able to implement our binders at high volume production for wetlaid, airlaid and carded nonwoven applications.”

In the short-term, Wennman says the change in the nonwovens industry has already begun since they already see several 100% biobased, biodegradable and plastic-free nonwoven applications on the market. The OrganoClick team also believes that airlaid and wetlaid nonwovens based on cellulosic fibers and/or pulp will be recyclable which will prolong the lifecycle of the materials even longer before eventually being composted or becoming bioenergy. “In the long run, we foresee that many more applications can become 100% biobased and recyclable and that hopefully, nonwovens as a product group can get an even better sustainability perception,” she says.

The research behind the technologies is now presented in a doctoral thesis by Wennman in collaboration with KTH – The Royal Institute of Technology with the title “Biobased and biodegradable binders for paper and nonwoven.” The biobased binders have been implemented in several industrial applications and replaced more than 2,000 tons of plastic in 2023.