Summary

Living Ink utilizes algae waste to replace petroleum-derived products like black pigment that is widely used in many applications. Carbon Black is the the black pigment that makes materials black such as ink, plastics, leathers and rubbers. It is made from heavy petroleum and generates a large carbon footprint while being unsafe for humans. The company has created a sustainable alternative called Algae Black™ that is made from algae byproducts. This ink makes recycling and composting much easier and convenient. The ink is a renewable, bio-based, and safe carbon black alternative. Algae by-product material is transformed into small, black pigments. This material is produced in dry powder or liquid pigment. (Source) The company uses by-product algae material grown at Earthrise Nutritionals, located in Imperial County, California.  Significantly, the company has designed the product such that it can be used with traditional printing equipment.

Story

Founders Scott Fulbright and Steve Albers met when they were PhD students in the Cell and Molecular Biology Program at Colorado State University. They were both researching algae projects related to biofuels and bioproducts. In 2013, they learned that the majority of printing ink used in the world are produced from toxic petroleum products. To find a solution away from petroleum based products, the due focused their work on algae as biopigments to develop the technology behind Living Ink.

Pic Credit: Living Ink (right and top)