Vollebak’s plant and algae T-shirt becomes “worm food” in 12 weeks

Tech-based clothing startup Vollebak has launched a T-shirt made entirely from wood pulp and algae , which breaks down in soil or in a composter within three months. The T-shirt itself is made from wood pulp sourced from sustainably managed forests. Vollebak sources wood from eucalyptus, beech, and spruce trees, which are chipped and pulped before being turned into fibre, then yarn and finally fabric. The t-shirt is made from yarn produced from wood pulp The green block design on the front of the T-shirt has been created entirely from algae grown in bioreactors in a process that turns the aquatic plant into a printable ink. According to Vollebak co-founder Steve Tidball, each T-shirt is "unique" thanks to the natural properties of algae, which cause the green design to fade and change colour over time. "You can think of algae as a space-age material that just happens to be 1.5 billion years old," said Tidball. Once the T-shirt reaches the end of its life, it can either be put in a compost bin or buried in the ground, where the company claims it will decompose within three months. "The plant and algae T-shirt needs the fungus, bacteria and heat […]

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