Making compostable fibres from farm and food byproducts
By Lilian Schaer
A Canadian startup is turning heads with its unique solution on how to add value to farm and food byproducts. Nova Scotia’s Aruna Revolution has developed a proprietary process to extract compostable fibres out of waste like canola stalks, corn stover, leaves, pulps and peels and turn them into fully biodegradable, compostable and plastic-free menstrual pads.
It’s estimated that the global menstrual market is a $67.8 billion industry, and Aruna co-founder Rashmi Prakash believes strongly in providing women with a sustainable alternative to conventional products, while also developing value-added upcycling streams for farmers and food producers.
“This is a unique opportunity to turn waste into wellness,” Prakash says, adding her background in biomedical engineering has made her conscious of the ongoing need to reduce waste and promote circularity.
In addition to its fibre extraction process, Aruna has also developed a novel, leak-proof pad layer where natural fibres play a key role – and a grant from the Greenshoots program, delivered by Bioenterprise Canada, was invaluable in supporting their research and development work.
GreenShoots is a collaborative initiative by Invest Nova Scotia, Greenspring Bioinnovation Hub and Bioenterprise Canada to support early-stage technology companies in the agriculture, agri-food, bioeconomy, clean technology and related sectors.
According to Prakash, the grant enabled the Aruna team to do critical research on sustainable fiber extraction and non-woven development, which included being able to hire technical support, developing equipment for larger-scale retting and extraction of fibers from food, crop, and wood by-products, and creating an inventory of approximately 100 kilograms of fibres.
At the end of the project, she notes, Aruna had successfully scaled up its 200 litre fibre extraction unit and initiated non-woven production, as well as optimized fibre extraction, which helped the company take significant steps towards future commercialization of its sustainable women’s health products.
“The GreenShoots funding was invaluable to Aruna. Without it, accomplishing these activities would have been challenging, and delayed our progress towards commercialization,” Prakash explains.
As an added benefit, the grant funding came with the opportunity to work with the staff team at Bioenterprise, Canada’s Food & Agri-Tech Engine, which Prakash says provided invaluable support to the young start-up company.
“Through Bioenterprise, we had and continue to have access to advisors with decades of experience in areas we know our team has gaps in,” she says. “They played a vital role in steering our project towards success by providing us with guidance and support in project planning and development strategies, connecting us to critical network members and offering insights into the industry standards. Their support has really helped us position ourselves better for future commercial endeavours.”
In 2023, Aruna was also selected as the grand prize winner of The Green Pursuit, a national sustainability and innovation challenge hosted by Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC) and Bioenterprise Canada.
The company is currently building a facility in Nova Scotia in advance of a product launch and is looking to Canadian farmers who would be willing to supply fibres for their products.
Bioenterprise is Canada’s Food & Agri-Tech Engine, a national agri-technology focused commercialization accelerator. Bioenterprise uses its more than 20 years of industry experience and a global network of experts, mentors, funders, researchers, and industry partners to help small and medium-sized agri-food businesses connect, innovate and grow.
More information about the GreenShoots program is available at https://bioenterprise.ca/programs/greenshoots/.
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