What not to miss at Dutch Design Week 2025: Biobased Materials

Dutch Design Week (18–26 October 2025, Eindhoven) returns with a strong focus on material innovation—prioritising sustainability, circularity and regional production. This year’s programme surfaces tangible alternatives to petrochemical materials and linear supply chains, revealing how bio-based resources, waste streams and living systems can underpin real-world products and environments.

Biobased colour and textile finishes

At the Veenweide Atelier, Fit-to-Farm – Models for Biomanufacturing explores bacterial pigments powered by agricultural side streams and residual farm heat, sketching a pathway to distributed, lower-impact textile finishing. Wax meets Flax documents more than sixty recipes for water-repellent linen using beeswax, linseed oil and natural resins—offering PFAS/PTFE-free performance with reproducible methods. More than a Bioplastic transforms yerba-mate waste into large bio-textiles that connect cultural ritual with circular material practice. In MandarinSkin, Roots & Flowers, couture pieces made from dried flowers, roots and organic residues demonstrate toxin-free, repairable, skin-friendly materials engineered for stage-ready durability.

Circular interiors and product ecosystems

Eggshells take centre stage as a versatile resource. Eggshell Re-Planter applies an improved eggshell-ceramic bio-material to planters that release calcium back to the soil at end of life, while maintaining strength and water resistance for interior use. PROJECT SHELL: Egg the paper turns eggshell pulp into biodegradable lamps—some seeded to decompose and enrich soil—offering a full life-cycle concept from table to garden. From Waste to Gold outlines a practical route from local waste feedstocks to high-performance biomaterials, prototyping products and building regional supply chains in months rather than years. Similarly, Agri-fruit-bag transforms agricultural waste—specifically discarded tomato leaves—into a biodegradable biofilm used to protect guava fruit, replacing conventional plastic mesh bags and returning nutrients to the soil after harvest. Also featured, Between Growth and Structure presents a plant-based biomaterial made from carboxymethyl cellulose, brown-algae sodium alginate, and organic residues. The material’s adaptability—from flexible films to rigid structures—makes it suitable for applications across fashion, furniture, and architecture, combining circular design with low-carbon performance.

Towards measurable impact

Across exhibitions and pilots, the emphasis falls on regional feedstocks, repairability, designed end-of-life and evidence of performance. Whether through PFAS-free coatings for natural fibres, bio-composites from food waste, or circular rooftop substrates, DDW 2025 showcases a pragmatic shift: materials conceived not only to reduce impact, but to enable scalable, localised production.

Source & photos: Dutch Design Week