ASX-listed technology company Nanollose (ASX:NC6) has delivered what it is calling a “foundational step for the company”, signing a non-binding MOU to secure supply for large quantities of microbial cellulose – a material used by the company to produce environmentally friendly fibres.
Shares in Nanollose shot up over eleven percent during today’s trading, closing at 15 cents per share.
The company has developed a procedure to utilise industrial organic and agricultural waste products, converting it into cellulose, which is used to manufacture a wide range of products, such as cotton, linen textiles, rayon and cellophane. It is also the main component of paper and paper related products.
The MOU will establish a partnership between Nanollose and PT Supra Natami Utama, one of Indonesia’s largest and most established producers of coconut food, beverages and cosmetic products.
PT Supra Natami Utama produces considerable waste streams for use in the production of textile grade microbial cellulose, which Nanollose believes can be used as feedstock in its expanding supply chain.
Importantly for Nanollose, its process of converting waste into microbial cellulose is plant-free, reliant on natural wate products, such as the material produced by PT Supra Natami Utama.
The plant-free process has considerable environmental benefits compared to typical cellulose producers, which commonly resort to tree felling or growing environmentally taxing crops, in addition to the use of arable land, water and pesticides.
With ever growing interest in Nanollose’s fibre technology, this non-binding MOU is a foundational first step in solidifying readily available feedstocks that accelerate a development pathway to provide sustainable and greener textile fibre samples to the industry,” Nanollose managing director Alfie Germano said.
Under the terms of the MOU the two companies will now work towards development of a commercial scale facility to produce industrial grade microbial cellulose from coconut by-products.
Should the collaboration develop a commercial outcome, both parties will move towards a formal partnership.
