A group of UK-based organisations has announced what they call the world’s first plastic-free, toxin-free, and fully biodegradable reflective pigment. The breakthrough comes from an 18-month collaboration between materials science company Pangaia, University of Cambridge spin-off Sparxell, and the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC).

The project, named Elucent and supported by Innovate UK, showcases how science, engineering, and design can work together to build sustainable colour solutions. It marks an important step as bio-based pigments move from lab research into industrial production.

The team combined Sparxell’s cellulose-based colour technology with Pangaia’s design know-how and MTC’s expertise in scaling processes. With support from London’s Orto Print Studio, Pangaia developed printed fabric samples and tested their durability, ensuring the pigments could be applied in real-world fashion and industrial contexts.

MTC played a key role in building custom production systems and proving the pigments could perform consistently at an industrial scale, not just in laboratory settings.