Drink It, Then Wear It

It was a day like any other in South London. Flocks of people were whiling away in local pubs, and in one of those, two men, unbeknownst to each other, were about to meet and come up with an idea that would revolutionise the tanning industry.

Brett Cotten, a Cambridge Biotechnology graduate, and Edward “TJ” Mitchell, an Oxford Inorganic Chemistry PhD, were just there to enjoy a beer with some friends. 

Both vegetarian, the two new friends began thinking about a way to replace polluting leather with a new environmentally friendly and cruelty-free alternative. The idea came through a quick look at the area they were in: Bermondsey. Former hide tanning centre of the City of London, the district is now better known for the ‘beer mile’, a stretch of road dotted with more than 20 breweries, a variety of taprooms, and even more pubs. There, more than 1,000 tonnes of spent grain (the waste product of brewing beer) are produced yearly; a leftover that is increasingly difficult to eliminate, tallying over 20% of the entire beer production. Most of it is repurposed as animal feed, but a significant amount is instead burnt or sent to landfills at an extra cost for the producers.

Cotten and Mitchell spotted the opportunity and began experimenting in TJ’s kitchen, using free waste from the local breweries. Their intuition proved successful, and in 2022 the duo launched Arda Biomaterials, a start-up producing ‘New Grain’, an animal and plastic-free alternative to leather. 

The production process is simple. The proteins contained in the spent grain are separated by stirring, and through a chemical process are turned into compact strings. These are then poured into different trays based on the desired texture and, after a day of rest, the material is ready to be peeled off. In addition to its customisable texture, New Grain’s colour and smell can also be altered. It has been observed that the colour can be chosen by picking different kinds of beer, with Guinness producing a darker black, whilst lagers make for a more brownish hue.

The product obtained is less environmentally impactful, and Mitchell claims it is significantly cheaper to produce in scale, allowing for a greener alternative to traditional leather making.

Indeed leather is currently the source of eighteen per cent of global industrial water pollution and is the main contributor to the textile industry, which produces one-tenth of the world’s gas emissions. Tanning is one of the main driving factors for deforestation, and traditional techniques require great quantities of water and generate significant levels of chemical pollution. 

All of this, however, could be avoided. Cotten believes that “leather isn’t a by-product of the meat industry, but instead an important co-product that carries important value,” and states that “ten per cent of the world’s spent grain would be enough for the global demand for leather.”

On top of leather-like material made from beer, many other companies have been researching ways to produce sustainable replacements for natural hide. Fruits, fungi, and even cacti have been among the candidates, but most still contain plastics or only have a small percentage of biological material.

That is why Arda Biomaterials has arisen as the most promising candidate, and having just secured a 1.1 million pound investment, the future looks bright for the young London start-up. With production starting this year, it might not take long before people will not only drink beer, but also wear it.

Image by Wikipedia Commons