— By Marilyn Gerlach — 

London-based start-up Demeter Bio (www.demeter-bio.com) has launched Fibrepel, a biobased coating designed to replace forever chemicals used in making textiles and packaging resistant to water and oil.

Made from biopolymers, the coating is said to match the performance of conventional coatings without harming the environment and can be used with existing manufacturing equipment.

Fibrepel provides resistance to water, oil, and alcohol – the same properties provided by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as forever chemicals, which have been linked to health issues and environmental concerns.

Regulations on PFAS, which are also found in upholstery and hygiene applications, have increased across Europe.

As announced by the Royal Society of Chemistry, Demeter Bio’s innovation won first place in the Environment category at the association’s Emerging Technologies Competition in July 2026.

Related: EU Commission to make 2026 a ‘year of action’ on forever chemicals

“We saw a lot of PFAS removal and PFAS remediation start-ups coming in, but very few PFAS alternatives,” Demeter Bio co-founder Rayan Osseiran said. “Fixing the past by removing PFAS is one thing, but how do we pave the way forward for companies to also use alternatives so that we avoid the mistakes that we’ve done before.”

Demeter Bio said it had noticed that alternative coatings under development relied on microplastics, which, despite being PFAS-free, are linked to health and contamination concerns and “do not perform as well” in providing oil and alcohol resistance.

“Built from renewable biobased feedstocks, our materials do not bioaccumulate and avoid the persistence associated with PFAS. We prioritise chemistries that deliver functional longevity without leaving a long-term environmental footprint,” it said.

Related: California Governor Newsom vetoes legislature’s proposed PFAS ban

“We design for scale. Our production methods reduce complexity while preserving performance, enabling competitive pricing that makes PFAS replacement practical for manufacturers, from speciality formulators to large industrial suppliers,” the company added.

“Our materials are engineered to meet or surpass the functionality of fluorinated chemistries. Through controlled molecular design, we achieve durable water resistance, structural stability, and application-specific performance validated across laboratory and field testing,” Demeter Bio said.