What is the name of your solution?
RIBLUM synthetic Lumber
Provide a one-line summary of your solution.
RIBLUM is a wood obtained without touching a tree.
What specific problem are you solving?
Our world today needs every tree that grows, providing shelter for animals, better air quality and resisting climate change.
But human acts don't seem to be considering that.in a country like mine (Tunisia) national forests doesn't help providing more than 10% of the local lumber market needs. The rest of it is imported (with no fsc labels to cut prices). that was the case for years, and now the lumber prices are skyrocketing with a big offer shortage.
This is the case of all the MENA region, sub-Saharan africa, and surely for any dry climate country.
What is your solution?
RIBLUM is a wood obtained without touching a tree. This material which is produced locally and on demand, is in fact carbonivorus and contains no harmful chemicals. We have developed a technology to make synthetic lumber from vegetal fibers of monocot plants that can be grown locally in aggressive climates. we are able to produce many variants of this synthetic lumber, that can be suited for furniture making, construction, exterior applications....
The product we are producing now is actually made from recycling palm tree leaves waste, and it is dedicated to furniture production.
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
Our company aims to promote the integration of oasis communities into the economic cycle. This is a large population of workers who have no farm-land ownership, and they were for a long time only dependent on seasonal agriculture related work with no social coverage.
Introducing industrial activity in this rural desert region is big news, as this activity will help sustain healthier palm groves, collect their leaf waste and spread good practices awareness.
For the youth this region is not the place to be, because they struggle to find work, for decades the county have known strong internal migration of college graduates leaving the interior regions towards big cities. We are trying to compensate that by offering descent employment for the young, and recruiting local college graduates to work on tech development jobs.
How are you and your team well-positioned to deliver this solution?
growing up in the Kebili, Nefzawa region, I was watching up close the impact of the local economic cycle on the social life of people and family structures. Who mainely rely on agriculture or craftsmaship.
Designing the solution in the first place took all that in consideration, then we arranged many meetings with local deciders, the mayor and local farmers association. As their engagement have an important key role to the project.
We are aiming for a better integration of our project on the environmental, economic and social levels.
Which dimension of the Challenge does your solution most closely address?
Support local economies that protect high-carbon ecosystems from development, including peatlands, mangroves, and forests.
Where our solution team is headquartered or located:
Kebili, TunisiaOur solution's stage of development:
PilotHow many people does your solution currently serve?
2
Why are you applying to Solve?
We are applying to SOLVE, be cause we mainly need technical partners support and financial support. We are also more than exited for this multi-national collaboration, as it presents a great opportunity to enlarge our network and get closer to new markets.
In which of the following areas do you most need partners or support?
Financial (e.g. improving accounting practices, pitching to investors)
Who is the Team Lead for your solution?
Hadded Malek
What makes your solution innovative?
Admittedly, the transformation of vegetable fibers is not new, and on all fibers sourced from palm trees. The traditional production of palm derivatives is nowadays restricted to processing with low added value. RIBLUM comes to revalue this abundant local resource, and imposes itself on the market thanks to a product with technical characteristics (mechanical resistance, resistance to water, fire resistance) comparable to the rest of modern and industrial products. We also note that the reconstituted woods existing on the market (such as MDF, OSB, LVL, PSL, etc.) do not have good aesthetics. hence our product is a new one in the timber market. On the other hand, our industrial methods and our production cycle are also innovative (based on digital rapid prototyping technologies), which allows us to escape from the traditional value chain of furniture production.
Describe the core technology that powers your solution.
The core tech we are using is a hybrid technology, obtained by bringing our own innovation to make a regular industrial technique more eco-friendly and adapt it to be used with new raw material.
Which of the following categories best describes your solution?
A new application of an existing technology
Please select the technologies currently used in your solution:
Which of the UN Sustainable Development Goals does your solution address?
In which countries do you currently operate?
In which countries will you be operating within the next year?
What type of organization is your solution team?
For-profit, including B-Corp or similar models
How many people work on your solution team?
1- full time 2-part time (a total of 3)
How long have you been working on your solution?
2 years
Solution Team
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HADDED MALEK RIBLUM
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Our Organization
RIBLUM