Munich Startup: Who are you and what does Manaomea do?
Tine Arlt, founder of Manaomea: We are Manaomea, a social impact startup. Manaomea stands for the best possible recycling of textiles. With our innovative technology from aerospace, we eliminate textile waste by transforming it into a unique, distinctive and solid material.
Our Manaomea material is unique on every millimeter, super authentic and naturally circular. With diverse applications in beautiful rod-shaped designs, it can be used like (tropical) wood and plastic both indoors and outdoors, while the trees remain standing. Today we make very special pens from it – the Betterpens – and in the next step unique furniture and interior design such as innovative baseboards, wall panels and jewelry and accessories. Our material can be circulated endlessly. From pen body to chair to flooring, and again and again, without any shredding.
From 2025, it will finally also be produced at the textile waste mountains in the Global South. Because it is our long-term goal to work where all the textile waste, which also comes from all of us here, accumulates. And to create real change there with our technology and socially fair jobs.
Space tech for textile waste
Munich Startup: What tech features do you use to apply cradle-to-cradle principles?
Tine Arlt: We use our technology from aerospace, to transform every type of textile waste together with our bio-resin into our unique Manaomea material. We produce rods of various geometries – always rods. That’s the key that enables us to recycle and reproduce every rod and every product made from it without shredding. Small rods such as pen tubes can become larger rods that are used in interior spaces, furniture pieces and other applications.
Munich Startup: How do you integrate the topic of circular economy into your business model?
Tine Arlt: For us, circularity begins with the idea of design. From the beginning, we designed our material with tremendous creativity and patience so that it can be circulated without being destroyed. This is how the rod-shaped design came about. Each of our products is designed according to minimal and circular design principles, so that it can be completely disassembled and recycled.
Circular from material to all connection techniques
We focus on the essentials. No unnecessary frills. For example, our Betterpens consist only of textile waste and bio-resin, with refillable mines, some with stainless steel parts. That’s all you need. And every pen body can be returned to our material cycle to become, for example, a rod for a piece of furniture. The pen tube remains completely intact. A small rod becomes a larger rod, becomes an even larger rod, becomes an even larger rod – endlessly. And we simply love our Betterpens. They are truly impact wonders. The first social-circular upcycling ballpoint pen that is made from waste. It can be circulated endlessly and also serves a social purpose – fair jobs and fair wages directly at the textile waste mountains of this world.
Following the success of the Betterpens, we continue with larger rods to create exciting new products like furniture and interior design. Through partnerships with great furniture brands and other partners, we want to expand our reach and impact.
Translating high technology into smart, cost-effective systems
Munich Startup: What can other startups learn from you?
Tine Arlt: Other startups can learn from us how to translate super-innovative high technology into smart, small, decentralized and cost-effective systems, and thus be able to work directly at the source of the problem. Technology transfer to the Global South instead of massive facilities in the Global North. This way we create not only sustainable solutions locally, but also empower local communities and turn them into innovation hubs.
We demonstrate that it is possible to view real waste as a valuable resource and transform it into beautiful, unique products. We love materials and could get lost in unique textures and small details that emerge from textile scraps. We love our planet just as much. It’s so beautiful here! That’s why it’s so important to us to achieve holistic impact. From the material itself, socially on the ground and in terms of circular economy. We’re excited for our material to find applications across many industries.
Munich Startup: What are your current challenges?
Tine Arlt: Growth and visibility. We’re in the middle of a funding round to reach new markets and, above all, to delight end customers with our material. For that, we especially need visibility, great partners and a significantly larger team. Because next year we’re also launching our first partnership for our first location in India. We’re currently still selecting suitable partners.
Challenges: capital search and scaling
And we’re working on scaling our production and actively developing new inspiring products from Manaomea material. This also involves optimizing our processes to handle larger quantities of textile waste.
Munich Startup: Where do you see yourselves in five years?
Tine Arlt: I’m allowed to think big here: Manaomea is a leading impact company that enchants the world with its unique material and significantly contributes to shrinking the textile waste mountains of this world. Our material is THE trend material and Manaomea is a global impact brand!
Together with wonderful partners, we have at least six different production facilities with socially fair production worldwide – everywhere textile waste mountains exist. But especially in countries that are heavily affected by our overconsumption. Through our production facilities, we feed at least 15 families on the ground each and especially empower many women. Per production facility, 4,600 tons of CO2 equivalent per year are saved and 200 tons of textile waste are upcycled.
Our unique material replaces (tropical) wood and plastic in many areas and is particularly indispensable in interior design and furniture making. But it’s also found in jewelry, brushes and other accessories – always as a favorite piece. And we’ve established a global take-back system with, for example, major furniture retailers, so that circular economy can truly be lived. We especially love our collaborations with fantastic brands like IKEA and Hermès, with renowned designers and famous building projects. They showcase the diversity and beauty of our material and prominently carry the so important social impact message into the world. Together we transform textile waste into beauty.
