The Manufacturing Podcast with Fexingo: Factories, Supply Chains, and Industrial Business

Episode 107 of The Manufacturing Podcast dives into a specific case: how the Japanese chemical company Mitsubishi Chemical is building a commercial-scale plant in Kasaoka, Okayama Prefecture, that converts unsold bento boxes, vegetable trimmings, and other food waste into succinic acid — a platform chemical used to make biodegradable plastics, resins, and pharmaceuticals. Lucas explains the techno...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna visit a bakery-waste distillery in Manchester, UK, that takes unsold sandwich bread from supermarkets and ferments it into craft gin and vodka. They trace the full supply chain: 10,000 loaves a day diverted from landfill, the enzymatic conversion process, and the 40 percent carbon savings compared to grain-based spirits. The conversation covers the economics of food...

Dandelions — the weed you can't get rid of — might be the future of rubber. Episode 105 visits the Fraunhofer Institute in Münster, Germany, and the Continental plant in Korbach, where dandelion roots are being turned into tire-grade natural rubber at pilot scale. Lucas and Luna walk through the biology: why Russian dandelion (Taraxacum kok-saghyz) produces latex, how the Fraunhofer team bred a va...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna visit a Swiss factory that has compressed the entire chocolate-making process from raw cocoa bean to finished bar into just three hours, down from the typical week. They break down the technology: an automated fermenter that mimics microbial action, a precision roaster that hits exact flavor profiles, and a conching machine that uses ultrasound instead of days of gr...

On this episode of The Manufacturing Podcast, Lucas and Luna visit a Dutch factory that is producing leather from mycelium — the root structure of mushrooms. They explore the science behind the process, how it compares to traditional leather in terms of cost and performance, and why luxury brands like Hermès and Stella McCartney are investing in this technology. The hosts also discuss the environm...

Most carbon capture projects bury CO2 underground. This episode takes you inside a factory in the Netherlands that does something different: it pipes waste CO2 from a nearby greenhouse and turns it into sodium bicarbonate — baking soda. Lucas and Luna walk through the chemistry (yes, it's a simple reaction), the economics (the plant turns a profit at roughly €80 per ton of CO2), and why this model...

Episode 101 of The Manufacturing Podcast takes you inside HYBRIT, the Swedish pilot plant that is replacing coal with green hydrogen to produce fossil-free steel. Lucas and Luna break down the science, the economics, and the staggering challenge of decarbonizing one of the world's dirtiest industries. They explore how SSAB, LKAB, and Vattenfall have invested over 1 billion euros into this project,...

Episode 100 of The Manufacturing Podcast takes us inside a factory in Denmark where a robot named Sloth picks and packs e-commerce orders at 1,200 boxes an hour—more than ten human workers can do. Lucas breaks down how the robot avoids ripping packages and why its computer vision system struggles with black shrink wrap. Luna asks whether this means job losses or job upgrades. The hosts discuss the...

Episode 99 of The Manufacturing Podcast takes you inside a Dutch factory that processes millions of tons of flower waste from the Netherlands' massive cut-flower industry into biodegradable plastic pellets. Lucas and Luna walk through the specific chemical process — how flower stems and petals are dried, ground, and blended with a polylactic acid binder to create a composite that mimics convention...

In this episode of The Manufacturing Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore how a Singapore-based factory is solving one of the toughest problems in the battery supply chain: recycling 'black mass' — the crushed, mixed-material residue from spent lithium-ion batteries. The facility, operated by startup Green Li-ion, processes up to 20 tons of black mass per day, recovering lithium, cobalt, nickel, and ma...

Episode 97 of The Manufacturing Podcast dives into the world of algae-based textiles. Lucas and Luna visit a factory in Brittany, France, where seaweed is turned into a biodegradable fiber that could displace cotton and polyester. They discuss the numbers: one kilogram of algae fiber uses 99% less water than cotton and 70% fewer carbon emissions than polyester. The hosts explore the harvesting pro...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how a factory in Saskatchewan is taking low-grade mining tailings and turning them into rare earth magnets for electric vehicles and wind turbines. They break down the specific process—separating neodymium and dysprosium from old mine waste—and explain why this matters for supply chain security outside China. The hosts also discuss the economics of the facil...

Episode 95 of The Manufacturing Podcast visits a Texas factory that converts dairy farm waste into sustainable aviation fuel. Lucas explains the pyrolysis process that turns manure into bio-crude, which is then refined into drop-in jet fuel. Luna asks about the economics: how much does it cost versus conventional jet fuel, and how many cows does it take to power a 737? The episode focuses on the s...

Episode 94 of The Manufacturing Podcast explores a German pilot plant near Munich that uses microwave pyrolysis to turn mixed plastic waste into hydrogen gas and solid carbon. Lucas and Luna break down the technology: how microwaves target carbon bonds, why the process produces no dioxins, and the economics of selling hydrogen at $3.50 per kilogram. The plant processes 2 metric tons of plastic per...

In this episode of The Manufacturing Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore how a Texas-based startup is turning dairy farm waste into synthetic jet fuel. They break down the chemistry of gasification and Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, the economics of carbon credits versus the Renewable Fuel Standard, and why Southwest Airlines has signed a ten-year offtake agreement. With manure from 40,000 cows producing...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna visit a revolutionary factory in the Netherlands that transforms contaminated harbor sediment into durable building bricks. They explore the staggering challenge of dredging 20 million cubic meters of polluted sludge every year from Dutch waterways, and how one company developed a patented process to wash, sort, and press it into construction-grade bricks. Lucas bre...

Episode 91 of The Manufacturing Podcast visits a Colorado factory that is turning captured carbon dioxide into mineralized aggregate for concrete. Lucas and Luna walk through the CarbonCure process, where CO2 from industrial emitters is injected into wet concrete, reacting with calcium ions to form calcium carbonate — permanently locking away the gas. They discuss the numbers: one ton of CO2 store...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna visit a distillery in Scotland that is turning whisky production waste into green hydrogen. They explore the science behind the process, the economics of hydrogen production, and how this innovation could reshape the energy footprint of the food and beverage industry. The hosts break down the numbers: a pilot plant producing 200 kilograms of hydrogen per day from dr...

Episode 89 of The Manufacturing Podcast digs into a Norwegian factory that is turning mine tailings — the waste rock left over from mining — into mineral-based fertilizer. Lucas and Luna explore the process at a plant near Kirkenes, where iron ore tailings are converted into a slow-release, silicon-rich fertilizer that improves soil health and crop yields. They discuss the science behind silicate...

Episode 88 of The Manufacturing Podcast visits France, where a small factory near Reims is turning hemp stalks into lightweight panels for car door interiors. Lucas explains how the plant's natural fiber technology cuts component weight by 30 percent compared to fiberglass and reduces carbon emissions during manufacturing by half. He breaks down the economics: the hemp costs about 1 euro per kilog...

Episode 87 of The Manufacturing Podcast visits the outskirts of Jülich, Germany, where a pilot plant called Synhelion is doing something that sounds almost too simple: concentrating sunlight to extreme heat to split CO₂ and water into syngas, then refining that into jet fuel. Lucas and Luna walk through the numbers — 1,500 degrees Celsius inside a solar receiver, a target of 100,000 liters of sola...

Lucas and Luna visit the world's first operating hydrogen-based steel plant in Japan. The episode explores how Mitsubishi and Nippon Steel are piloting a direct reduction process that replaces coke with green hydrogen, cutting carbon emissions by 95 percent per ton of steel. Lucas breaks down the numbers: the plant currently produces 250,000 tons annually at a cost premium of 30 percent over conve...

Lucas and Luna visit a factory in Antwerp, Belgium, where a company called Circlite is turning industrial water treatment sludge into high-quality building bricks. The process replaces clay with dried sludge powder, cutting carbon emissions by 70% compared to traditional brickmaking. The plant processes about 50,000 tons of sludge per year, diverting it from landfills and producing 20 million bric...

Episode 84 of The Manufacturing Podcast. Lucas and Luna visit a factory in Hamburg that processes spent coffee grounds from local cafes into bio-composite pellets used by the automotive and furniture industries. They discuss the numbers: 600 tons of grounds per month, a 40% reduction in petroleum-based plastic per pellet, and the partnership with a major German carmaker. Plus a conversation about...

In this episode of The Manufacturing Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore how a Finnish factory is creating carbon fiber from pine pulp instead of oil. They dive into the numbers: carbon fiber typically costs $15–$20 per kilogram and requires energy-intensive processing. This new bio-based method, developed by a startup called Stora Enso, could cut cost by 30% and reduce carbon footprint by 50%. The ho...