Designed by Nature

Nature is not a circular economy in the way industry has come to define it, which is material recycling of toxic products, even though we now know that microplastics are ending up in our fruits and vegetables and making their way to our brain and heart. Nature has a vastly different model for “end of life” and that’s decomposition, which is actually crucial to the manufacturing engine of the planet. Nothing new can grow if there isn’t a cyclical nutrient stream. Decomposition is far more nuanced than just leaving something outside to rot: it is the intricate, multi-step process of feeding many, creating the conditions conducive to new life. For example, how GHG–potent methane can be prevented from escaping into the atmosphere and become fertilizer or graphite (solid state carbon) for super strong, lightweight materials that are nontoxic and inert.

Modern Alchemy works on projects that advance nature’s paradigm but uses man-made materials: we create industrial ecosystems that transform waste products into new materials that are safe to cycle, unlike plastic. Whether the statistic is that microplastics and microfibers that are in our body do increase the likelihood of heart attack or stroke, or we look at the millions of tonnes of plastic lining the ocean floor, we believe that plastic is not an appropriate material for our planet. Most people believe that the volume of plastic – in everything from clothing to wood products to paint – is the problem. But the planet supports the growth and decomposition of hundreds of billions of tons of cellulose each year, and even more chitin (from beetle shells, crustaceans, or mushrooms), and it isn’t a problem. The material characteristics of lignin/cellulose and chitin outperform plastic, and there are now innovators moving to such biodegradable materials. Our theory of change is that we can convert existing, problematic materials into better products that our bodies, and the planet, recognize as nutrients (so it’s not pollution).