AirCarbon biomaterial is a material made from greenhouse gas, and the company behind it, Newlight Technologies of Huntington Beach, California, says it can replace plastic in products from foodware to fashion.
What AirCarbon biomaterial is
The company says AirCarbon is about 60 percent carbon from greenhouse gas and 40 percent oxygen from air. Newlight, founded in 2003, won a 2016 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge award in the Climate Change category, and the EPA describes AirCarbon as net carbon negative.
The verification
In September 2020 SCS Global Services verified a negative carbon footprint for Restore AirCarbon foodware and for Covalent AirCarbon fashion products such as card holders, handbags, device sleeves and sunglasses. The verification covers production through disposal and excludes distribution, and the releases were issued by Newlight, so the claims apply to those specific products.
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Partners and reach
ESG Today reported in 2023 that products using AirCarbon were in more than 5,000 locations, that Nike partnered in 2021 to explore its use, and that Newlight had a development agreement with Oxy to use direct air capture CO2 as a feedstock. These are company reported.
Why it matters
If a material can be made from captured greenhouse gas and be useful, it turns a problem into a resource. The honest questions are cost, scale and the details of each product’s verification, and readers should look for updated figures as the company grows.
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Submit your companySources: EPA Green Chemistry Challenge entry; SCS Global Services, September 24, 2020; ESG Today, August 2023. Figures marked as company reported come from the company itself.
