Made From Jordan

Jordan is a resource poor country, we import materials from abroad at a high cost to ourselves and the environment. We present Made From Jordan, an exploration into utilizing abundant waste streams to turn them into valuable, sustainable and functional everyday products. From furniture to sound insulation.

Palm waste and olive mill waste are global environmental issues. Palm leaves get disposed of in landfills where they take up to 50 years to degrade. While Olive mill waste is commonly used as a substitute to wood in fireplaces, where it releases more carbon emissions than wood. We are inventing a castable material that is made mainly out of palm leaves and olive mill waste. When the product life time comes to an end, the material can be melted and re-casted in a new mold, or can be left to biodegrade on its own causing no harm to the environment.

By creating a new, reusable and biodegradable material from ingredients that are readily available in the Middle East, we solve these problems:

1. Palm waste ends up at landfills where it takes at least 5 decades to degrade, or it ends up on fire pits, contributing to carbon emissions. Olive mill waste is commonly used as a substitute to wood in fireplaces, where it releases more carbon emissions than wood. We take these materials and transform them into reusable and biodegradable material.

2. Most materials (wood, metals, clay, plastics and even sheep hair) are currently imported into Jordan. Despite availability of raw materials in the region. We reduce the need to import materials. This in turn saves emissions from any type of transport currently used to import materials from all over the world.

3. Due to cheap import options and political trade agreements, local manufacturing has become less competitive. With our solution, we hope to make local manufacturing interesting again.

4. The geopolitical situation in the Middle East has caused a huge influx of immigrants to Jordan. There is a need for new and more jobs, to also accommodate Jordan’s newest residents. Our solution will create job opportunities for those in need.

In general we want to improve the lives of the world population, by reducing the number of imported materials and waste burnt, and therefore decreasing carbon emissions.

More specifically our solution improves the lives of people in developing countries. Our solution reduces waste, creates jobs and benefits the consumer because they will be able to buy cheaper, locally made material.

We are entering the innovation sweet spot through the feasibility circle. We envisioned a material that is not just about using waste, but that is also future proof - made with natural ingredients only. Now that we know we can make this material, we have thought of many different applications for it. The next steps are to conduct studies into viability and desirability. 

A material made out of palm and olive mill waste that can become a substitute for wood and cardboard for countries that do not have wood resources. Our material is fully biodegradable and can be reused by melting and recasting. As a first step, we are validating the concept by making furniture pieces out of this material.

Made From Jordan is change that creates a new dimension of performance. Palm and olive mill waste have always been considered a nuisance. Not worth anything more than regular trash. It’s simply thrown away and burnt. However, both are strong materials by nature. Therefore we wondered if there would be a way to harness that strength.

By looking at these materials differently, we uncovered new potential, a new dimension of performance. Together, they make for a new material that is strong as wood, made with only natural ingredients. A material that can be cast into any shape we would like it to be. And most importantly, that doesn’t turn into trash, but can be reused or will biodegrade. 

The core technology for Made From Jordan, is manufacturing; taking waste materials and turning them into a new and reusable material that is fully made out of natural ingredients.

By creating a new, reusable and biodegradable material from ingredients that are readily available in the Middle East, we solve these problems:

1. Palm waste ends up at landfills where it takes at least 5 decades to degrade, or it ends up on fire pits, contributing to carbon emissions. Olive mill waste is commonly used as a substitute to wood in fireplaces, where it releases more carbon emissions than wood. We take these materials and transform them into reusable and biodegradable material.

2. Most materials (wood, metals, clay, plastics and even sheep hair) are currently imported into Jordan. Despite availability of raw materials in the region. We reduce the need to import materials. This in turn saves emissions from any type of transport currently used to import materials from all over the world.

3. Due to cheap import options and political trade agreements, local manufacturing has become less competitive. With our solution, we hope to make local manufacturing interesting again.

4. The geopolitical situation in the Middle East has caused a huge influx of immigrants to Jordan. There is a need for new and more jobs, to also accommodate Jordan’s newest residents. Our solution will create job opportunities for those in need.

We are currently in the prototyping stage, which means we are not actively serving people at this stage. However, we have found many possible applications for our new material, such as furniture and sound insulation. Therefore, to make sure we continue in the most desirable, viable and scalable way possible, the next step in our timeline is to conduct studies into what application would make most sense.

Within the next few months, we plan on creating clarity from a viability and desirability standpoint. We’ll be focussing in on a specific application for our material and do thorough user research. Within the next five years, we will have scaled and replicated our work to other developing countries. Ensuring less carbon emissions from importing materials and/or burning the waste from palm trees and olive mills.

1. Financial barriers

To make our solution into something that is scalable, we need funds.

2. Access to specialists

Through our prototypes, we know that this material can be made. However, we are reaching a point where we are in need for scientists to do some more elaborate tests to perfect the material.

Also, we are in need for business specialists who could help us with the viability and scaling of our solution.

3. Cultural barriers

Recycling is not yet engrained into the daily lives of most Middle Eastern households. This might create a barrier to convince people of the added value of this material.

1. Financial barriers

We are applying for various grant programs and we are looking into how we can best make the solution viable.

2. Access to specialists

The access to Solve's network would help us get in touch with the right people to advance this project. In the meantime we are looking to recruit MBA students to help us make a head start.

3. Cultural barriers

We are at the start of an emerging trend of more environmental awareness in the region, which means that we can be at the forefront.

Made From Jordan is a project run by Twelve Degrees, a product design agency based in Jordan.

6 people

We are the only industrial design agency in Jordan. We work with prototypes on a daily basis, and try to be as locally sourced and sustainable as possible in the process. For us it is a daily struggle to find locally sourced, sustainable materials that are also affordable. Therefore, we decided to take faith into our own hands, and develop a new, sustainable material. A material that can handle our needs, is future proof and that can be sourced locally. And a material that can handle our needs, is surely also useful to many others. We are a multidisciplinary team and we know the region and its culture like our back pocket. That is why we are best-placed to deliver this solution.

Goethe Institut and Amman Design Week invited us to participate in a partnership program, after which Goethe Institut decided to give us a small grant. 

The director of the environment fund of the Jordanian Ministry of Environment is one of our (non-financial) sponsors.

We haven't decided on the business model yet, as we haven't decided on the most viable application. We are in the process of evaluating various applications for our material, keeping in mind that the goal is to have a more sustainable yet also competitive material. After we have concluded our viability studies, we will decide on the most viable application to develop a business model for. At which time we can also determine the best road to scalability.

We can now say with certainty that our solution is feasible. We are looking into different applications and different industries for our material. We have been raising grants and are looking to recruit MBA students to find a way to make the solution viable, so it can become self-sustaining. The goal has always been to make a more sustainable, yet at the same time also more competitive material.

1. Financial barriers

To make our solution into something that's scalable, Solve's financial stimulus would be of great help.

2. Access to specialists

Through our prototypes, we know that this material can be made. However, we are reaching a point where we are in need for material scientists to do some more elaborate tests to perfect the material.

Also, we are in need for business specialists who could help us with the viability and scaling of our solution. The access to Solve's network would help us get in touch with the right people to advance this project.

3. Cultural barriers

Recycling is not yet engrained into the daily lives of most Middle Eastern households. This might create a barrier to convince people of the added value of this material. 

The access to Solve's network would help us get in touch with the right people to advance this project.

Scaling

We would like to partner with universities and material scientists.