Materials companies Circular Matters and StoneCycling have used corn cobs ? one of the world's most plentiful agricultural waste materials ? to make interior cladding that is biodegradable and almost entirely bio-based.
Available in the form of tiles and sheets, CornWall is intended as a more sustainable alternative to ceramic interior wall tiles or plastic laminate.
The material is derived from more than 99 per cent renewable, biological sources, is created at low temperatures using mainly solar power and emits less carbon dioxide in its production than was captured by the corn as it grew, the manufacturers claim.
CornWall is an interior cladding material that is 99 per cent bio-based
To give the products a long lifespan, Circular Matters and StoneCycling have produced the tiles with a mechanical fixing system, so they can be demounted and reused or given back to the company for cleaning and recycling. The technology behind CornWall was invented by Circular Matters ? a start-up spun out of a lab at Belgium's KU Leuven University, where founder Pieter Dondeyne and his team found a way to process plants to enhance their natural biopolymers and create durable materials.
The team then partnered with Dutch company StoneCycling to channel their technology into a product.
Corn cobs make up most of the composition of the tiles
StoneCycling co-founder Ward Massa told Dezeen that the focus on corn came because it is one of the most grown crops on the planet and its waste is abundant...