Orange Fiber

An overhead view of citrus fruit slices, peels, leaves, and flowers arranged in glass petri dishes. — Source names no photographer

Orange Fiber, an Italian company, patented a process to turn Sicilian citrus juice waste into a silk-like textile, gaining a low-cost raw material while juice producers see a minor benefit from an otherwise discarded byproduct.

The Italian company Orange Fiber provides a tangible example of this industrial symbiosis. They have patented a process to create a sustainable, silk-like textile from the citrus pulp that is leftover from industrial juice production in Sicily. Orange Fiber [+] benefits by acquiring a low-cost, abundant raw material (a modified habitat). The citrus juice producers [=], the other party, are largely unaffected in their core business, even though they receive a minor benefit from selling a waste product that would otherwise be discarded.