Why Textiles?

Textiles, as woven and non-woven fabrics are ubiquitous. Use of textiles is often characterised by relatively high manufacturing waste (over 10% wastage, even in efficient production systems) and complex chemistry. The majority of textiles are made from petrochemical derived plastics, which is then modified by coatings or blending other fibres into the textile to give it specific properties, such as waterproofing or breathability. The more coatings or binding agents we add to a textile, or blend in other fibres to that textile, the more challenging it becomes to manage these fabrics at their end of life.

This has resulted in millions of tonnes of textiles being sent to landfill or incinerated annually, and the second largest carbon footprint by industry globally (Carbon literacy project., 2021). Therefore we need to redesign how we deal with textiles globally, from production, to use, to end of life, to develop a bio-based and circular economy for textiles.

These challenges are the same challenges faced by the maritime industry for sails and the composites industry. 

When we started in 2021, we expected our sail recycling technology to only be usable for sail cloth; however, we have seen a dramatic expansion in the plastics that these technologies can be used to recycle, through our R&D activities. These closed loop recycling technologies, we think, are part of solution to develop this circular economy globally. Therefore, we are now starting to undertake larger scale development work to develop a circular economy for our target textiles, by working with select partners.

How can we help?

If you are a UK based manufacturer of technical textiles, such as clothing for running, kayaking, sailing, windsurfing and are interested in our manufacturing waste uplift services, then drop us a line for a quote. Furthermore, we are now looking for partners to co-develop textiles which have been designed with sustainability in mind. If you are interested email us here.