PRIX TECH FOR FUTURE 2026

Flexibile, durable, stretchable, and petroleum-free: Alterskin’s biorenewable material offers an alternative to plastic that is both economical and easily integrable in factories, for the fashion, furniture, and industrial sectors. The Champagne-based start-up wins the Tech for Future 2026 award, organized by La Tribune and BFM Business, in the Environment & Energy category.

In the battle to reduce the environmental footprint of materials, flexible plastics are often overlooked. This is the segment where Alternative Innovation has chosen to position itself. Located in Pomacle, in the Marne region, this start-up founded in 2020 has developed Alterskin shape memory biorenewable material, designed to replace materials such as polyurethane or PVC.

This patented technology ticks all the boxes of sustainability: it is bio-sourced, recyclable, made in France, and free of petrosourced plastics. “We have a completely stretchable biorenewable material, without deformation, flexible and resistant, like plastic, but without plastic,” explains Pauline Weinmann, president and founder of Alternative Innovation.

Maize and rice to replace plastic

The composition of this biorenewable material, which can stretch up to six times its size without deterioration, highlights the originality of the project: corn starch and rice bran, an agricultural byproduct, form the basis of the formulation. Customization with pigments, fragrances, or adaptation to certain technical constraints (mineral fillers, flame retardants) is ensured by the laboratory technicians present in the company’s team (five people).

Alternative Innovation offers two products from the same technological platform. The first is a premium coated fabric roll, intended mainly for leather goods, footwear, or furniture. The second involves marketing a liquid biorenewable material for industrial coating, coating, or tanning industries. This adaptability feeds into the B2B positioning desired by Pauline Weinmann.