Investigating and developing a roll-to-roll production method for a sustainable leather-like material made from waste beer/whisky grain proteins

Recipient organisation

ARDA BIOMATERIALS LTD

Project reference

10191268

Funder

Innovate UK

Programme

Innovate UK Growth Catalyst – Investor Partnerships Round 2

Award value

£684,946

Project dates

1 Jul 2026 – 30 Jun 2028

Imported sector

Advanced Manufacturing Lvl3

Postcode area

SE (SE1 2JS)

Project status

Live

Source data quality

Description present in snapshot

Official project description

The leather we consume today is the net result of a long chain of carbon intensive steps associated with animal agriculture, including animal rearing, leather harvesting, tanning, and processing. Current alternatives, faux leather 'pleather', are riddled with plastic, and are neither recyclable or biodegradable. A sustainable leather alternative that removes the need for animal agriculture and any plastics would make a significant contribution to climate change and the environment. Arda Biomaterials (Arda) are a start-up working on commercialising exciting research that has shown that it is possible to produce a leather-like material from the extracted proteins from waste grain produced after beer brewing, a by-product that is typically used as low value animal feed. This in effect takes a waste material from an existing and ubiquitous industrial process (i.e., the brewer's spent grain), omits the animal and chemical tanning processes, and produces a leather-like material. By omitting the need for animal agriculture, the material is estimated to have only 3% of the carbon footprint than conventional leathers have. Furthermore, unlike many common synthetic leather alternatives, Arda does not use any petrochemical derived additives or any plastics in their formulations, ensuring that the material is biodegradable at the end of life. While the material has been created in panel sheets and the extraction of the protein has been proven at scale, the critical step towards commercialisation is to prove a path to scaled-up, roll-to-roll material production. The path towards scale-up has prevented other technologies from progressing to enter the market. Fortunately, the method of production for Arda's materials resemble those used in the production of plastic materials. Arda intends to utilise the equipment used in the mass production of plastic materials for their own material. This project focuses on the research, translation, and implementation of Arda's formulations to produce using a continuous roll-to-roll production.