Mattermind
First-hand intelligence from the materials frontier. Interviews with industry leaders, breakthrough research, policy analysis, and the stories shaping tomorrow's supply chains.
Major Intelligence
Featured Analysis
MatterMinds: Top 20 Industrial Designers in Wearables
Discover 20 visionary wearable tech designers pioneering innovative, stylish, and human-centered products revolutionizing fashion, health, and technology worldwide.
CYCLUPS PLQ: Wheat-Waste Plastic Runs on Existing Lines, Composts in 12 Weeks
How wheat waste became the hero of compostable cutlery and packaging. Meet PLQ: strong, sleek, and gone in 12 weeks by CYCLUPS - PLANTASTIQ
ReStalk: Tree-free Pulp From Crop Waste Targets Plastics and Wood
ReStalk turns farm residue into elegant pulp. A behind-the-scenes look at how waste becomes design-forward fiber across fashion, packaging, and beyond.
Interviews
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Top Stories
Wax On, Wash Never: The Silent Science Behind Emerald Finishing Invisible Armor
Discover how wax, heat, and biopolymers are quietly transforming fabric finishing, no rinse, no fuss, just pure performance with Emerald Finishing
Pouches, Pumps, and the Polished Science of Refill with BOTTLESS
Discover how BOTTLESS slashes 90% plastic from packaging with Airless Pak: durable, hygienic, and refill-ready.
Wood, Without the Forest: Inside Symmetry Wood Radical Material
How Symmetry Wood turns food waste into Pyrus™, a dense, machinable wood alternative made without trees or fossil fuels.
A Spoonful of Science: BUYO Bioplastic That Bends but Doesn not Break
Discover how BUYO turns biowaste into scalable bioplastics using patented tech, with applications from cutlery to containers. Includes compostability tests and global rollout plans.
Beyond the Frame: Zixuan Zhang’s Art of Weathered Spaces
Zixuan Zhang blurs the boundary between indoors and nature with Outside_in, a poetic series of window installations powered by natural forces.
Between Fire and Fragility: How Wilfried Becret Shapes the Invisible Life of Glass
Discover how Wilfried Becret transforms glass dust into stunning design objects through craft, research, and circular innovation.
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Opinion & Analysis
Brands are shifting: recyclable, low-impact choices
Right now, many brands are phasing out PVC, going leather-free, or eliminating traditional chrome plating, in favour of materials that can be more easily recycled or use less water and plastic in production.
AI + LCA: make metrics the design brief
Environmental metrics should serve as constraints in generative systems. By embedding embodied carbon and LCA data, AI can guide designers toward lower-impact outcomes.
Build the nanotech supply chain: high-value inputs
Developing higher value-added applications for graphite ore will support the supply of high-quality raw materials to the nanotechnology industry and reduce the production costs of nanostructured devices.
Spotlight
Tocco Report: FOSSIL-FREE FOAM 2030 Edition
A data-driven report on non-petroleum foams across packaging, footwear, construction, and consumer goods. Defines “fossil-free,” benchmarks properties, maps certifications (EN 13432, ASTM, REACH/CLP, UL 94), profiles suppliers and case studies, and details costs, lead times, and risks, ending with a grounded 2026–2030 adoption outlook.
Tocco Report: RUBBER & ELASTOMER 2026 Edition
Explore the future of rubber and elastomers in The Rubber & Elastomers 2026 Report by the Tocco Editorial Team. This in-depth analysis tracks the global shift from Hevea plantations to bio-based synthetics such as bio-EPDM, TPU, and guayule latex. It examines market data, regulations, and innovations shaping tyres, footwear, and medical goods. From EU deforestation rules to the rise of bio-monomers and circular materials, the report decodes how performance, compliance, and sustainability converge across the $300-billion rubber economy.
Intelligence Reports
Tocco Report: Vietnam Industrial Stack 2030 Edition
Vietnam has outgrown its label as a low-cost assembly line. With exports topping US$405.5 billion in 2024, trade flows now more than double the size of its GDP. Global manufacturers from Samsung to Nike, Intel to Pouyuen, anchor supply chains here, while foreign capital stock has surged past US$322 billion, driving more than 70% of the country’s exports. Vietnam is no longer on the margins of globalization, it is embedded in its core. What makes this moment decisive is the shift from assembly to capability. From robotics and smart factories to biotech and advanced materials, Vietnam is stretching into higher-value terrain, even as weak supplier depth, rising wages, and energy constraints remain. The stakes are clear: execution will determine whether Vietnam cements its role as an industrial powerhouse or stalls at mid-value production. This report by the Tocco team maps that stack, offering a clear-eyed view of Vietnam’s industrial ascent and its limits.
Tocco Report: Glues & Adhesives 2030 Edition
Comprehensive 2030 outlook on adhesives, gaskets, and TPVs, covering technology shifts, applications, compliance, and sustainability in global manufacturing.
Tocco Report: State of Hempcrete 2030
Discover hempcrete’s future: a carbon-storing, fire-resistant material set to power a $34.6B global market by 2030. A must-read for builders and investors.
Tocco Report: China’s New Industrial Stack Yearbook 2026
China now produces a third of global manufacturing output. This report explores its shift to high-tech industries and global leadership.
Interviews
MatterMinds: Top 20 Industrial Designers in Wearables
Discover 20 visionary wearable tech designers pioneering innovative, stylish, and human-centered products revolutionizing fashion, health, and technology worldwide.
From Tokyo to Saigon, the Story of Grain with Joe Chikamori
Joe Chikamori blends Japanese precision with Vietnamese handcraft, rethinking terrazzo, wood, and glass into distinctive, durable spaces across Asia.
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