Product Radar · Week commencing 28 September 2026

Three products that caught our attention this week

A small, deliberately selective window onto products emerging from the bioeconomy, chosen and commented on by David Stone. We describe what has been reported, link to the available sources and make the limits of the evidence visible.

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Editorial notice: Product Radar presents bioeconomy-derived products and applications that have caught our attention. Inclusion is editorial discovery, not an AgriKinetics or AKOS endorsement, certification or assessment of overall environmental performance. Manufacturer claims are attributed, and evidence limitations are identified wherever possible.

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This week’s selection

What interested me this week

Reviewed 28 September 2026

Wet cellulose fibres consolidating into a smooth moulded surface with a water droplet. Illustrative context—not a smol or Pulpex product photograph. — Illustrative context—not a product photograph.

Moulded fibre · Liquid packaging

smol × Pulpex laundry bottle

smol and Pulpex · United Kingdom

Availability: The bottle has been announced for launch during autumn 2026, but I could not confirm that it is orderable yet. Pulpex is developing commercial manufacturing near Glasgow.
Why it caught my attention: This is not interesting simply because somebody has made another paper bottle. Liquid detergent is a demanding test: the container must resist moisture, survive distribution and work with filling at meaningful volume. The real question is whether the concept can move from an attractive announcement into reliable everyday use.
What is reported: smol says the bottle body is made mainly from cellulose fibre sourced from FSC- and PEFC-certified forests, with an ultra-thin water-based internal barrier. The recycled-polypropylene dosing cap is removed separately, and the company says the body can enter normal UK paper and card collections.
Questions still open: The full bottle composition, barrier chemistry, detergent shelf-life results, production volume and commercial price have not been disclosed. I also found no comparative product-level life-cycle assessment or published mill-repulping report. “Designed for recycling” is not proof that every local authority will collect and successfully recycle it.

smol announcement →The Grocer report →Packaging Europe report →

Seaweed-derived material merging with paper fibres beneath water droplets. Illustrative context—not a Kelpi or Bower Collective product photograph. — Illustrative context—not a product photograph.

Seaweed coating · Paper packaging

Kelpi × Bower Collective paper sachet

Kelpi, Bower Collective and Guardpack · United Kingdom

Availability: This is a limited customer trial using 5 ml hand-wash samples, not a generally orderable packaging format. Selected Bower customers received three sample sachets.
Why it caught my attention: Interesting materials are comparatively easy to demonstrate in isolation. Getting one through existing converting and filling equipment is a much more useful test. Guardpack reportedly made and filled these sachets without modifying its line, which begins to answer whether the coating can function in a real packaging operation.
What is reported: Kelpi says the paper is coated with a barrier made by combining seaweed-derived sugars with plant oils. The company says it can contain liquid hand wash, enter household paper recycling and has been independently tested as containing fully plant-derived carbon.
Questions still open: The detailed test reports, coating formulation and recycling assessment have not been published. I found no public data for shelf life, leakage rate, sealing window, coating weight, fibre recovery or repulping yield. It is an encouraging practical trial, but it does not yet establish commercial-scale availability or performance with other liquids.

Kelpi announcement →Bower trial account →Packaging Europe report →The Fish Site report →

Amber resin being applied to woven carbon fibre under controlled heat. Illustrative context—not a MICHELIN ResiCare product photograph. — Illustrative context—not a product photograph.

Bio-derived resin · High-performance composites

Resi4 CARBON/CARBON and Resi4 ABLATION

MICHELIN ResiCare · France

Availability: MICHELIN ResiCare describes the resins as available for evaluation and compatible with industrial-scale production from September 2026. I found no independent confirmation that customer-scale production has begun.
Why it caught my attention: This moves the bioeconomy discussion into applications where failure is not an option. If a resin must tolerate ablation or extreme thermal flux, its biological origin will count for very little unless it first meets the technical specification. That makes it a much more demanding test of bio-derived chemistry than a lower-risk consumer application.
What is reported: Resi4 CARBON/CARBON is aimed at carbon and ceramic-matrix composites, while Resi4 ABLATION targets structures exposed to extreme heat. The manufacturer describes both as formaldehyde-free and formulated principally around bio-sourced 5-HMF and bio-based polyphenols.
Questions still open: The company reports intended bio-based content of 100% for CARBON/CARBON and 90% for ABLATION, but footnotes those percentages to future availability of sugar-derived monomers from industrial demonstrators expected in 2027. I found no public qualification data, aerospace approvals, production capacity, pricing or customer deployments. The current products’ measured bio-based carbon content therefore needs clarification.

MICHELIN ResiCare announcement →JEC Composites report →

Previous products

Recycled paper fibres beside layered paperboard

Week commencing 21 September 2026

PaceSetter Ridgeline™, Babybel® paper wrapper and cell-cultured cocoa butter

View edition →

Abstract mineral particles and crystal growth representing bacteria-assisted mineralisation

Week commencing 14 September 2026

Mimmik® Tile, Sorona® and PureNil™ 0

View edition →

Illustrative context: branching mycelium and woven hemp fibres

Week commencing 7 September 2026

Loop Living Cocoon™, WHEATEX® and Woven Mycelium

View edition →

Selection method

Attention is not endorsement

We look for a clear bioeconomy-derived input, a real product or credible route to market, a development worth learning from and sources that allow important claims to be attributed. Inclusion does not mean that AgriKinetics has verified every claim or concluded that the product is environmentally preferable overall.

Read the full editorial method →

01Find
Search current primary and credible independent sources.
02Screen
Check product reality, attribution, duplication and obvious evidence gaps.
03Explain
Publish the commercial interest and limitations in plain language.

Suggest a product

What have we missed?

Readers, manufacturers, researchers and supply-chain participants may suggest a product for independent editorial consideration. A suggestion does not guarantee inclusion, influence our wording or create a commercial relationship.

Useful submissions include: the product and organisation name, a direct source link, the bioeconomy-derived material or process, present availability and any supporting evidence.