By Julie Hindkjær, volunteer journalist
If you’ve encountered sustainable lingerie, biodegradable confetti, a skateboard made from surplus wood, or seaweed-based packaging at this year’s festival, you’ve likely visited The Circular Lab at Camping West.
The Circular Laboratory is back at the festival for the third consecutive year, once again serving as a unique exhibition platform for young entrepreneurs with potentially sustainable and groundbreaking ideas.
Dreams can indeed come true at The Circular Lab. Take, for example, the company Saml, which participated as a young test company for the past two years and is now a partner with the festival.
"Roskilde Festival is an excellent testing platform because it’s a forgiving environment with many people, providing a solid foundation for data collection and solution evaluation," says Kristine Barenholdt Bruun, head of The Circular Lab.
"At the same time, it’s a good window for Roskilde Festival to stay updated on developments in circular solutions. We are undergoing a green transition ourselves and need inspiration and knowledge, and it’s really beneficial to collaborate with these entrepreneurs who have unique and in-depth knowledge of what they are developing."
The Circular Lab
The Circular Lab is supported by Roskilde Festival and the Tuborg Foundation, offering young entrepreneurs a unique platform to develop and test circular concepts in a lively festival environment. This opportunity provides valuable insights into how participants interact with sustainable products.
This year, the laboratory features 24 young entrepreneurs testing camping equipment, new foods, furniture, textiles and shoes, building materials, and much more. We visited The Circular Lab and met some of them.
Biodegradable materials for temporary events are gaining ground, and MYCO is testing materials made from a mix of mushroom mycelium and agricultural straw.
At the festival, MYCO, in collaboration with Naturpladen, has built a structure where festival-goers can seek shelter while also helping to test the construction.
"The festival is a temporary structure just like our product, so it’s almost a perfect fit for us. The fact that our material is biodegradable is both fantastic and challenging because it needs to be kept dry. Therefore, it’s very interesting to see how people use it, touch it, or spill beer on it, and what happens. There was also a huge downpour at the festival on Sunday, and the structure is still standing," says Uffe Emil Holm Thomsen, project manager and architect at Myco.
Carnelia creates lingerie that is both comfortable, inclusive, and focused on challenging traditional beauty standards. Their designs are modern yet influenced by tradition, and they use recycled materials to reduce environmental impact.
"The festival’s guests represent the openness and ideal we strive for," says Francesca Villa, founder of Carnelia.
Now you can fire off confetti in nature without guilt. Bloom Burst Confetti uses discarded flowers from retail, which are dried and mixed with grass and wildflower seeds to create a product that is both festive and enhances biodiversity.
"The sustainability of our product is that we turn waste into a celebration while creating something beneficial for the environment," says Cecilie Møller Jørgensen, co-founder of Bloom Burst Confetti.
NeighborLink is an app designed to promote community and sustainability in neighborhoods by making it easier for neighbors to share resources and support each other. Users can earn karma points by helping one another, which can be redeemed for discounts at local shops.
"Our mission is to break down barriers between neighbors and promote social sustainability. At the festival, we can test what potential users think and need," says Luhise Holm, founder of NeighborLink.
