About us

Reimagining wool for a new future

Wool Source is a New Zealand-based ingredient manufacturer creating ground-breaking biobased products from pure New Zealand strong wool.

Wool is renowned as a natural, biodegradable performance fibre from a sustainable, renewable source. However, demand for strong wool has declined over decades as cheaper synthetic materials have become more popular for applications like carpets and textiles.

Wool Source has now developed the patent-protected technology to transform strong wool into new products while still retaining its inherent performance qualities. It aims to contribute to a sustainable sector for wool growers in New Zealand and to allow brands and manufacturers across multiple industries to replace synthetic and petrochemically derived products with ingredients that are traceable to the farm of origin, ethically sourced and renewable.

Designing with circularity in mind

We are committed to designing ingredients that contribute to circular economy principles and validating this with third-party certification. Wool Source participates in the Cradle to Cradle Certified® Products Program, the global standard for safe, circular, and responsibly made products. Through this program, our products are independently assessed for Material Health. We have already achieved Cradle to Cradle Material Health Certification for two Wool Source products, Wool Source Powders and Wool Source Particles and are pursuing the same certification for Wool Source Pigments. We believe that Wool Source products serve as a model for how circular thinking can be applied to supply chains. By creating ingredients that are circular, safe, competitively priced and high performing, we aim to show brands that they can work towards sustainability targets without sacrificing performance, aesthetics or balance sheets.

Powering innovation with collaboration

Adopting novel ingredients and designing innovative new products takes courage, commitment and great partners. Our collaborative approach began with the “New Uses for Strong Wool” programme, an R&D initiative led by our patent entity, Wool Research Organisation of New Zealand, co-funded by the New Zealand government and supported by wool growers and scientists at Lincoln Agritech. This partnership enabled the scientific breakthroughs that transformed wool into new forms and led to the establishment of Wool Source to commercialise these products. We source wool through Wools of New Zealand from growers certified under the New Zealand Farm Assurance Programme (NZFAP) and work with Wool Impact to foster greater collaboration and promotion of wool across the sector. We are also members of Go!PHA, an international non-profit initiative championing renewable, compostable, and biodegradable materials. In our product development work, we partner with brands and supply chain innovators that share our sustainability values. We welcome new enquiries on partnerships to combine Wool Source technology with your product innovation.