NZ Companies Launch World’s First Wool-Based Colour for 3D Printing Filament
A collaboration between two New Zealand companies will see wool used as a renewable colour source for 3D printing.
Wool Source, a Christchurch-based ingredients manufacturer turning wool into new applications, has developed a world-leading patented technology to convert strong wool into a colourant for use in screen printing inks.
Wool Source Pigments are ethically sourced, renewable and traceable pigments with 97- 98% biobased carbon content, which means the product's carbon is almost entirely derived from a renewable biological source. The pigments are mixed into liquids to form screen printing inks and offer an alternative to synthetic and fossil fuel-derived pigments.
Outdoor brand Kathmandu is applying the innovation in a recently released graphic t-shirt made of 100% merino and inspired by Canterbury’s braided river systems, a uniquely local landscape that ties the product back to its natural origins, printed with Wool Source Pigments.
Wool Source chief executive Tom Hooper says it is a significant step to partner with a New Zealand brand like Kathmandu as the company begins to take the technology to global markets.
“It showcases that you can incorporate our pigments into traditional commercial processes at scale and deliver a high-quality final product using more environmentally friendly materials,” Hooper says.
“Innovation should do more than reduce harm,” says Kathmandu head of product innovation and product sustainability Manu Rastogi.
“This is a real example of how innovation and sustainability can complement each other, and the industry as a whole, and now we’ve helped unlock new value for New Zealand strong wool,” he says.
The development work builds on years of scientific research through the “New Uses for Strong Wool” programme led by the Wool Research Organisation of New Zealand and supported by scientists at Lincoln Agritech, wool growers, the wider wool supply chain, the Ministry of Business and Innovation and Employment and the Ministry for Primary Industries’ Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures fund.
The t-shirts are available online in New Zealand and Australia and are being rolled out across New Zealand stores now.
