VAIA transforms Xylella-ravaged olive trees into bio-material in Puglia

VAIA, the B-Corp founded after Storm Vaia in the Dolomites, is launching Olive Matter, a bio-composite made from wood fibers of olive trees infected by Xylella fastidiosa pauca in Salento, Puglia. The bacterium, which began spreading in 2013, has devastated one of Europe's largest olive-growing landscapes. Developed with the University of Trento, the National Research Council in Bari, and the University of Salento, Olive Matter's first product is a smartphone case priced under €50. Each sale funds the restoration of one square meter of Mediterranean scrubland in Specchia, creating the first Forest of Rebirth in Puglia. VAIA founder Federico Stefani visited the region in 2021 and committed to finding a solution. The project does not aim to replace lost olive trees but to promote biodiversity and landscape resilience through native species reintroduction on approximately two hectares. VAIA previously recovered timber from the Dolomites after Storm Vaia in October 2018, which felled 42 million trees, and has planted over 200,000 trees.