We transform upcycled agricultural by-products from New York orchards into 100% plastic-free, home-compostable packaging (MM-P1 Pack) and washable bio-textiles (MM-01 Skin), with zero synthetic coatings, zero petrochemicals, and zero animal inputs.
The Problem
Tons Plastic & Packaging Waste
Containers and packaging make up 82.2 million tons of U.S. municipal waste annually (28.1% of the total), with over 30.5 million tons sent directly to landfill. Global e-commerce fulfillment alone generates over 700 million pounds of single-use plastic packaging waste every year.
of Ocean Microplastics Synthetic Fibers & Coatings
Roughly 60% of all clothing material is plastic: polyester, nylon, acrylic, and polyurethane (PU) coatings. Washing synthetic textiles accounts for an estimated 35% of primary microplastics released into the world’s oceans, the single largest source.
Recycled Linear Textile Landfills
In the U.S. alone, textile waste exceeds 17 million tons per year, with 11.3 million tons landfilled. Worldwide, the equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or incinerated every second, and less than 1% of clothing is recycled into new garments.
Liters of Water Per Cotton T-Shirt
Conventional natural fibers are heavily resource-intensive. Producing a single cotton T-shirt requires roughly 2,700 liters of fresh water (WWF) while competing directly with food crops for arable farmland and agricultural inputs.
A cellulose material grown directly from upcycled food waste, rather than farmed on arable land or refined from petroleum, sheds zero microplastics and composts at the end of life, addressing all four challenges at once.
Every bioprocess still has its own footprint, including culture water, purification, and drying energy. From day one, we integrate quantitative Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) to engineer closed-loop media and wash-water recycling and low-energy drying, ensuring our environmental benefit is rigorously measured, never assumed.
Product Lines
Growth
Day 0 to 2
We upcycle nutrient-rich fruit pressings from New York cideries and orchards. Our AI-calibrated intake system standardizes natural agricultural sugars into a precision fermentation medium for our proprietary, non-GMO microbial culture.
Day 2 to 5
Microorganisms spin ultra-pure cellulose nanofibrils directly into a continuous three-dimensional network at the air-liquid interface, requiring no agricultural land, no wood pulping, and no mechanical spinning.
Day 5 to 7
As the structural sheet reaches target basis weight (tunable for thin packaging wraps or dense apparel panels), automated computer-vision monitoring tracks uniformity across every tray.
Day 7 to 8
The harvested sheet is purified in a closed-loop wash and undergoes our proprietary 100% vegan, plant- and fungi-derived crosslinking process, locking in wet strength, flexibility, and water resistance without synthetic plastics.
Material
Fresh from the fermentation tray, the purified cellulose network is refined through our plastic-free bio-finishing line into either high-strength, weather-resistant packaging sheets (MM-P1 Pack) or supple, breathable textiles (MM-01 Skin).
Making
FAQ
Can’t find what you’re looking for?
Write to kate@molecularmaterial.com.
Molecular Materials is a US biomaterials company developing plastic-free sheet materials from bacterial cellulose for packaging and textiles. Our dual-track platform includes MM-P1 Pack (flexible bio-packaging and mailers) and MM-01 Skin (washable bio-textiles without synthetic plastic coatings).
Kate Caballero (Co-Founder & CEO) leads commercialization, brand partnerships, and go-to-market, drawing on her work founding LILU, a New York branding studio. Dr. Ishfaq Showket Mir, PhD (Co-Founder & CSO) brings years of bacterial cellulose research, including peer-reviewed membrane engineering work. Dr. Maksud Rahman, PhD (Scientific Advisor, University of Houston) advises on advanced characterization and scale-up of engineered cellulose sheets.
Apparel and packaging still depend on fossil plastics that shed microplastics, or on resource-heavy cellulosics and coated “bio” materials that often fail on breathability, wash durability, or true compostability. We are building coating-free cellulose sheets that can serve both packaging and textile use cases from one biomanufacturing platform.
Bacterial cellulose is a high-purity nanofibrillar cellulose grown by microbes as a continuous wet sheet, rather than farmed as cotton or regenerated from wood pulp. After purification and finishing, it becomes a tunable sheet for mailers, pouches, apparel panels, and soft goods.
MM-P1 Pack is designed to replace single-use polyethylene mailers, garment bags, and specialty pouches with a plastic-free, printable, moisture-resistant sheet intended for home composting at end of life. It is our faster commercial bridge while apparel grades complete durability development.
Yes. MM-01 Skin targets breathable, skin-safe bio-textiles for apparel, accessories, and soft goods, engineered for drape and wash performance without polyurethane or PVC coatings. Brands can co-develop early applications while packaging pilots move first.
Cotton and wood-pulp lyocell rely on farmland or chemical pulping and regeneration. Many mycelium and plant-waste “leathers” still use plastic coatings or binders. Our approach grows cellulose from upcycled agricultural by-products and finishes sheets without petrochemical coatings, aiming for compostability and zero microplastic shedding.
We use upcycled agro-industrial by-products, including nutrient-rich fruit pressings from regional orchards and cideries, so fiber production does not compete with food crops for arable land.
Yes. The platform is designed to be fully vegan and animal-free: no animal inputs and no petrochemical plastic coatings.
Yes. Beyond compostability and no microplastics, every bioprocess still has a footprint (culture water, purification, drying energy). Our commitment to a better process includes quantitative Life-Cycle Assessment so environmental benefit is measured, not assumed.
Yes. Packaging formats are designed for standard die-cutting, folding, and biodegradable adhesives. Textile formats are designed to sew on conventional industrial machines with natural or cellulosic threads and accept water-based or soy inks.
Sign up for updates via the form below at molecularmaterial.com or email kate@molecularmaterial.com. Early commercial conversations prioritize MM-P1 Pack pilots; MM-01 Skin is open for brand co-development and research partnerships.
For partnership inquiries, please reach out to kate@molecularmaterial.com.
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