Straw Return

The Breakthrough

Agriculture produces food and feed, but often leaves behind underutilized plant matter. Staramaki already gives new life to wheat stems by transforming them into biodegradable drinking straws. Yet even this sustainable process generates its own production residues. Isaac Monté tackles this challenge with a simple, radical question: Can this “waste of waste” be transformed into high-value materials for design and interiors?

Through over 100 material experiments Straw Return explores how wheat stem residues can be transformed into new, high-performance materials. The process was supported by AI tools for ideation and analysis. We also developed a fully natural biobinder that combined with the rejected stems, creates a novel composite with unique qualities.

With this new composite, we created modular and layered, carbon storing, elements that combine sound absorption and design, adding warmth, texture and circularity to interior spaces. This breakthrough not only diverts agricultural residues from waste streams but also opens a pathway to functional, scalable, and sustainable materials demonstrating that regenerative design can start from the overlooked parts of our food system.

Why It Matters

By converting wheat stem residues into useful materials, Straw Return reveals hidden potential within the food system. Agriculture, beyond producing food and feed, can provide bio-based raw materials for design, construction, and interiors. In this way, the project advances a circular and regenerative food system, where value is extracted from every part of the crop.

Straw Return demonstrates how waste can become a resource, reducing dependence on virgin materials and inspiring systemic change. The project shows how byproducts can be creatively reintegrated into the economy. The collaboration not only delivers practical alternatives but also raises awareness of inefficiencies in food production. By treating secondary waste streams as resources, it redefines value and supports the transition to a more sustainable future.

About the Collaboration

Straw Return is a co-creation project between Eleni Karagiannidou of staramaki S.A. and Belgian designer Isaac Monté, that blends artistic exploration with sustainable manufacturing.

Staramaki embodies a true nature-based solution, tackling existing environmental and social challenges while simultaneously delivering ecological, economic, and community value. This vision aligns closely with Isaac Monté’s practice, which is rooted in experimentation with natural materials and the reimagining of their potential. His boundary-pushing design approach complements staramaki’s hands-on manufacturing experience, enabling the collaboration to bridge art, science, and sustainable production, giving rise to innovative, functional, and regenerative solutions in the form of acoustic panels and bale bricks.

Together, they joined forces under the Hungry EcoCities / S+T+ARTS Residency, with EU Horizon Europe support, to pioneer circular solutions for agricultural residues.