Materials from Sweden

If you're a product designer, and you need to know what materials are out there, you can always browse at a material library. This pod's guest Björn Florman was one of the founders and is now the creative project manager for Materialbiblioteket, or The Materials Library, based in Stockholm. He has seen material aesthetic trends come and go.

When we make paper products, there are heaps of a byproduct called lignin, which is typically burned. This pod's guest, Christopher Carrick, developed a way to make plastic from lignin and started a company RenCom to bring the technology to the market. That plastic would be derived from tree material and is likely biodegradable.

Ever throw something away, like an old vacuum, and think there's no way the materials will get separated and reused? This pod's guest, Taina Flink, helps companies think about designing products for their afterlife. She works for ÅF Pöyry as a "consultant in circular design." She previously worked for Stena Recycling as a "design for recycling specialist."

Sidd Kumaraswamy is a materials engineer who specializes in composites. He currently works for Volvo cars and is working towards a PhD from KTH. Sidd worked for Trifilon a few years back before moving on to study at the Max Planck institute.

Gustav Stenbeck currently works as the CEO of Mestro. He also gives lectures about sustainability. And he also acts as an angel investor, supporting startups with sustainable business ideas. One of those is Trifilon.

Amit Paul is the Managing Director of Paxymer, a Swedish company that produces flame retardants for plastics that are safer and more sustainable than other technologies. Amit knows about the history of flame retardants in Sweden and about the chemicals used in flame retardant technologies.

David Sandquist was recently hired as the Head of Research and Development for Trifilon. He comes from the prestigious VTT Research Centre in Finland. David has expert knowledge about forestry and biocomposite technologies.

Richard Blume is a Senior Sustainability Advisor for Sustain in Time, an advisory company in Stockholm that works with an array of organizations to develop more sustainable businesses.

Materials from Sweden features free-form chats with experts about consumer products, what they're made of, and how sustainable they are.