10126174Colourful Futures: Business Modelling and Climate Impact Assessment for Food-waste DyesClosedCollaborative R&DInnovate UKThe average person in the UK comes into contact with synthetically dyed goods multiple times on a daily basis. They are in the clothes we wear, the bedding we sleep in, the cosmetics we apply to our faces, and the food we eat. These dyes are derived from petroleum and coal-tar, they promote the continued consumption of fossil fuels, and they are inherently unsustainable. The global market for dyes and pigments is $38 billion (2022) and in the textiles sector alone, synthetic dye pollution accounts for 80% of the industry's total emissions \[Lellis-2019\]. Chemical dye effluent is dumped into waterstreams causing contamination, killing aquatic biota, damaging soil, and contaminating the food chain/drinking supply. Workers and local populations experience effects such as bladder-cancer, infertility, nervous-system disorders and rashes amongst many other side effects \[Khan,Malik,2018\]. Recent research shows wearers can experience skin-burns, asthma, auto-immune diseases and cumulative-toxicity with carcinogenic, mutagenic and reprotoxic effects \[Wicker,2023\]. The industry however has limited solutions and continues to rely on synthetic-dyes. There is an urgent need for a cost-effective and scalable solution which can rapidly tackle this vast problem. **SAGES DYES** SAGES create natural, biodegradable, non-polluting and non-toxic dyes derived from food-waste. We utilise UK food-waste streams such as onions skins, avocado pits, and red cabbages to extract vibrant dyes. These dyes can achieve the performance standards of synthetic dyes and are cost-effective. To date, SAGES focus has predominantly been on the textiles market however we are facing growing demand from the paints, inks, packaging and cosmetics industry to adapt our solution to meet their needs. This project focuses on building out a commercialisation plan with a focus on licensing, completing market research in untapped markets where demand has already been identified, and gathering environmental impact data. This information will accelerate the pace at which we can scale and allow access into a wide variety of markets.