Nutcycle partnership creates dyes from discarded walnut shells

In Spain, specialty chemicals maker Archroma and outdoor brand Ternua have partnered to create Nutcycle, a collection of T-shirts and sweatshirts dyed using walnut shells discarded from cider houses in the Basque region.

Ternua will collect walnut shells during the cider season, where Spain’s cider houses typically serve walnuts with cider. The company estimates up to 55,000 kg of walnuts are consumed in these cider houses. Archroma will then use the shells at its Barcelona facility to make biobased dyes for Ternua’s Nutcycle collection.

The project is supported by the Department of the Environment of the Gipuzkoa province government, and by the province’s National Cider Association. The collection was displayed at the recent Outdoor Show in Friedrichshafen. It will be available in stores this February.