The award recognises the company\u2019s development of neweFibre, the world\u2018s first hygiene-grade wool.<\/p>\n
Founded by Derelee Potroz-Smith and her mother, Angela Potroz, Woolchemy is tackling one of the world\u2018s most waste-heavy industries \u2014 disposable hygiene \u2014 with a biodegradable, skin-friendly alternative to plastic.<\/p>\n
Chief executive Potroz Smith said it was an honour to receive the recognition.<\/p>\n
She said neweFibre was \u201ca testament to what\u2019s possible when we align innovation with nature\u201d.<\/p>\n
From paddock to product<\/p>\n
neweFibre provides the core material for neweFlex, which will form the basis of all future Woolchemy innovations for hygiene products.<\/p>\n
neweFlex, is used in products such as nappies, feminine hygiene, and incontinence care.<\/p>\n
Each nappy contains about 1g of strong wool, combined with plant-based fibres.<\/p>\n
The material is certified 100% biobased (by Beta Analytic) and designed to mirror the structure of human skin, thanks to wool\u2019s natural keratin proteins.<\/p>\n
The wool is ethically sourced from New Zealand farms known for high environmental standards and quality, including regenerative grazing practices and low-input systems that help preserve soil health and biodiversity.<\/p>\n
A global problem, a local solution<\/p>\n
According to Woolchemy, an estimated 2 billion hygiene products are used and discarded every day, 93% of them made from petroleum-based plastics.<\/p>\n
The company said its innovation offered a renewable, high-performance alternative that broke down naturally and was gentler on skin.<\/p>\n
Woolchemy\u2019s work is already attracting international attention.<\/p>\n
neweFlex is patent-granted in two jurisdictions and pending in 14 more.<\/p>\n
Building a circular future<\/p>\n
Woolchemy co-founder Derelee Potroz-Smith.<\/p>\n
Woolchemy said it aimed to enable circular design in one of the world\u2018s most waste-intensive industries by transforming strong wool – a renewable and often undervalued fibre – into biodegradable materials that replace fossil-derived plastics.<\/p>\n
Circular design is about creating products that are made to be reused, recycled, or returned safely to nature, not thrown away.<\/p>\n
In 2019, Woolchemy\u2019s founding team was joined by Alana Cheape, a personal hygiene industry expert with 12 years of experience, to help guide the company\u2019s commercial and technical strategy.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur technology offers a rare combination of high performance, environmental responsibility, and skin health benefits,\u201d Potroz-Smith said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re proud to be working with global partners who are serious about bringing next-generation consumer products to market.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The award recognises the company\u2019s development of neweFibre, the world\u2018s first hygiene-grade wool. Founded by Derelee Potroz-Smith and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":216866,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[2840,2346,1863,3390,6326,33737,138,1656,2841,130903,3685,31178,2082,6637,16655,1437,21122,78,8454,296,121522,6187,663,3234,111,43,139,69,4517,6289,762,3175,544,6182,1361,7563,6202,130902,121521,379],"class_list":["post-216865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-across","tag-award","tag-back","tag-best","tag-biggest","tag-breakthrough","tag-business","tag-company","tag-country","tag-ecofriendly","tag-events","tag-favourites","tag-for","tag-gave","tag-glimpse","tag-global","tag-hygiene","tag-in","tag-including","tag-into","tag-livelihoods","tag-lives","tag-looks","tag-months","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-past","tag-readers","tag-review","tag-rural","tag-some","tag-stories","tag-that","tag-those","tag-wins","tag-woolchemy","tag-yarns","tag-year"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216865"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216865\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}