This is a follow on to the work done in BioBind1 - part funded by the Manifund community. https://manifund.com/projects/impac
This project deployed a prototype agritextile to the Amazon and evaluated the financial, social and ecological impact. You can view some imagery from Biobind1 here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/GyLuWHS78bcsipQU6
You can read our theory of change document here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1a-O3y58BF8r2SypmPFkD3ZgtUp2bkeMY/view?usp=drive_link
With support from Manifund BioBind1 was one of the winning teams in the Conservation x Labs Amazon Challenge https://www.instagram.com/conservationxlabs/reel/DCphVYlKo5-/
The overall goal is to build a small production unit, squeeze it into a container, and ship it to a community Brazil nut processor. Once trained and approved, the association will then be able to convert their waste into a useful fibre. This will add resilience to the Brazil nut system - one of the weapons against deforestation in the Amazon.
BioBind2 is a stepping stone in this project. Itwill build on the previous project (BioBind1) by evaluating the technical and economic case for deployment of a microfactory to the Amazon region.
The Milestones are as follows:
M1: proto fibre production using Amazon sourced nutmeal in our UK lab
M2: Refinement of the machinery proposed for the containerised microfactory based on feedback gained in reaching M1
M3: Detailed economic and technical assessment using
M4: Final design for container modification, full costings and specification realised.
Following, M4, we will utilise our network to secure further impact funding to kick-off the build and deployment phase.
Minimum Funding $1250 Enables M1 and M2
Tier 2 $3700 Supporting M3
Fully Funded $6200+ Deliver M4
The team for BioBind is largely the same as the team as delivered on BioBind1.
Dr. O'Haire is a fibre and material expert and will lead on the development and deployment of the manufacturing solution. we have conservation and agricultural leads in Sabina Huayara in Peru. They are experts in identifying and scaling regenerative practices to support and protect the Amazon ecology and indigenous communities whilst generating opportunities for those in the region.
Helping with data quality and visualisation is our LA based Data Scientist Teodoro. He has delivered several data viz projects on sustainable impact. He will lead on mapping and qualifying sites of opportunity which have the right balance of users, supply inputs and infrastructure.
In addition, we have made a new hire to the team. Thomas Wright joins us with an MSc. in Chemistry from Cambridge. He will work on the refinement of the Microfactory process prior to deployment.
We are supported through Conservation x Labs and Carbon 13 who can help us document and measure impact. When it comes to deployment they will also help secure the impact funding to run our test site.
$8500 from Conservation X Labs for participating and winning the Amazon Challenge
$1100 from Manifund Community for BioBind1.
Vasco Grilo
3 months ago
Thanks for sharing, Tom! Some questions that come to mind:
How would the fibre produced by you machine be useful?
How much would it cost? Is it cheaper than the alternative? If so, by how much?
Is your solution competitive with unconditional cash transfer (https://www.givedirectly.org/)? In other words, assuming each machine costs 100 $, would be benefits caused by it be at least as large as those caused by giving 100 $ to the people who would benefit from using the machine?
Tom O’Haire
3 months ago
Hello Vasco,
Great questions. I'll try and answer them as fully as I can. If you need further detail please follow-up.
How would the fibre produced by the machine by useful. The material would be used directly in the agricultural sector as a twine. String is an essential component of farming and globally we use 2.5 million tonnes of plastic based agri twine/string.
This picture of a zuccini farm in Peru shows how much fibre is used in tying up plants: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1O7EUL2Y4eMnVlXSclUTseYqms_Awr8aG/view?usp=drive_link
Our cost model - assuming co-location with a nut oil or soy processing plant - indicates that fibre of sufficient quality could be produced in the $2.4-$3.5/kg range. This would make it cost competitive with imported HDPE, PA6 or PP products.
We forecast that for every $1000 spend on development and deployment, this solution would return ~$1400 per year in revenue. Given the 10year+ life of this equipment this would enable a significant long term benefit to the users with further upsides in skills, training, ecology and income diversification. In our view this initiative will deliver more for the communities over the medium (2yr) and long term (5yr+) horizons.
Vasco Grilo
3 months ago
Thanks, Tom! You may want to link to your cost model in case others want to have a look.
I asked ChatGPT about the cost of twine, and the 1st result was "Polypropylene Baler Twine Wholesale for Agriculture" costing 1.70 $/kg (https://sdhmtextile.en.made-in-china.com/product/LZyfEOAvrwWp/China-Polypropylene-Baler-Twine-Wholesale-for-Agriculture.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com), which is cheaper than the lower bound of the range you provided for your system.
For reference, I would estimate the benefit-to-cost ratio of buying machines from "lifetime production of the machine in kg"*("$/kg with the machine" - "$/kg of the best alternative")/"cost of one machine in $". Do you preferred parameters imply a ratio higher than the value of 2.4 of unconditional cash transfers (https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w26600/w26600.pdf)?