Textination Newsline

From risottos to sauces, mushrooms have long been a staple in the kitchen. Now fungi are showing the potential to serve up more than just flavor—as a sustainable, bendy material for the fashion industry.

Researchers are using the web-like structure of the mushroom's root system—the mycelium—as an alternative to synthetic fibers for clothing and other products such as car seats.

"It's definitely a change of mindset in the manufacturing process," said Annalisa Moro, EU project leader at Italy-based Mogu, which makes interior-design products from the mycelium. "You're really collaborating with nature to grow something rather than create it, so it's kind of futuristic."

Mogu, located 50 kilometers northwest of Milan, is managing a research initiative to develop nonwoven fabrics made of mycelium fibers for the textile industry.

Called MY-FI, the project runs for four years through October 2024 and brings together companies, research institutes, industry organizations and academic institutions from across Europe.

MY-FI highlights how the EU is pushing for more sustainable production and consumption in the textile and apparel industry, which employs around 1.3 million people in Europe and has annual turnover of €167 billion.

While getting most of its textiles from abroad, the EU produces them in countries including France, Germany, Italy and Spain. Italy accounts for more than 40% of EU apparel production.

Delicate and durable
The mycelium grows from starter spawn added to crops such as cereals. The threadlike filaments of the hyphae, the vegetative part of the fungus, create a material that grows on top. It is harvested and dried, resulting in soft, silky white sheets of nonwoven fabric that are 50 to 60 square centimeters.

The delicate material is made stronger and more durable through the addition of bio-based chemicals that bind the fibers together.

Its ecological origins contrast with those of most synthetic fibers such as nylon and polyester, which derive from fossil fuels such as coal and oil.

That means production of synthetic fibers adds to greenhouse-gas emissions that are accelerating climate change. In addition, when washed, these materials shed microplastics that often end up polluting the environment including rivers, seas and oceans.

The MY-FI mycelium needs very little soil, water or chemicals, giving it greener credentials than even natural fibers such as cotton.

Dress rehearsal
For the fashion industry, the soft, water-resistant properties of the mycelium are as appealing as its environmental credentials.

Just ask Mariagrazia Sanua, sustainability and certification manager at Dyloan Bond Factory, an Italian fashion designer and manufacturer that is part of MY-FI.

The company has used the mycelium-based material—in black and brown and with a waxed finish—to produce a prototype dress, a top-and-midi-skirt combination, bags and small leather accessories.

Laser cutting and screen printing were used to evaluate the material's behavior. The challenge was to adapt to the sheets of fabric—squares of the mycelium material rather than traditional rolls of textiles like cotton, linen and polyester—as well as properties such as tensile strength and seam tightness.

"We have had to completely change the paradigm and design processes and garments based on the material," said Sanua.

The company hopes the mycelium material will be a way of offering consumers a range of products that can be alternatives to animal leather.

Leather-unbound
Meanwhile, Germany-based Volks¬wagen, the world's No. 2 car manufacturer, is looking to mycelium technologies to reduce its environmental footprint and move away from leather for vehicle interiors.

Customers increasingly want animal-free materials for interiors from seat covers and door panels to dashboards and steering wheels, so adding a sustainable substitute for leather is an exciting prospect, according to Dr. Martina Gottschling, a researcher at Volkswagen Group Innovation.

"A fast-growing biological material that can be produced animal-free and with little effort, which also does not require petroleum-based resources, is a game-changer in interior materials," she said.

The mycelium material is also lighter than leather, another positive for reducing VW's carbon footprint.

The company's involvement in MY-FI is driving project researchers at Utrecht University in the Netherlands and I-TECH Lyon in France to enhance the durability of the mycelium fabric. To move from prototype to production line, the fabric must meet quality requirements set by VW to ensure the material lasts for the life of the vehicle.

It's a challenge that Gottschling believes will be met in the coming decade.

"We already see the material as one of the high-quality materials for interior applications that will be possible in the future," she said.

When life gives you tomatoes
Mushrooms aren't the only food with the potential to spin a sustainable-yarn revolution. Tomato stems have a hidden talent too, according to Dr. Ozgur Atalay and Dr. Alper Gurarslan of Istanbul Technical University in Turkey.

Seeing tomato vines left to wither in the fields after the crop was harvested, Atalay and Gurarslan began to investigate whether the stems could be transformed into sustainable fibers.

Tests proved that the agricultural waste could indeed be turned into yarn. But Atalay and Gurarslan were determined to go a step further. They wanted to use tomato stems to create a type of yarn for garments that monitor heart beats, respiratory rates and joint movements.

The two researchers lead a project to create this kind of electrically conductive apparel using—for the first time—sustainable materials.

Called SMARTWASTE, the project runs for four years until the end of 2026 and also involves academic and research organizations from Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Poland.

"The beauty of the project is that we are starting from waste," said Atalay. "We are taking agricultural waste and not just creating regular textiles but something much more valuable."

While cost estimates will follow later in the project when design partners work on creating actual products, he signaled that smart clothing will be a good deal more expensive than the ordinary kind.

A smart textile shirt could cost as much as €1,000, according to Atalay.

The specialized material, limited production runs and research and development needed to create wearable technologies that are durable, washable and comfortable all contribute to the price tag.

Advancements in technology should eventually lead to lower production costs and consumer prices.

Seeds of poplar success
The Turkish countryside has also inspired a second strand to the project. Turkey's abundant poplar trees and—more specifically—their white, fluffy cotton-like seeds prompted Gurarslan to investigate whether they could be a sustainable textile source.

While their fibers have been dismissed as too short to make a yarn, the seeds have three particular properties that appeal to the textile industry: a hollow, pipe-like structure that can trap heat to provide thermal qualities, an antibacterial nature and water resistance.

The network of SMARTWASTE experts has blended the seeds with recycled polyester to make a nonwoven fabric that the team intends to turn into textile products with enhanced thermal properties.

The researchers hope this is just the start of a far-reaching transformation of textiles.

"Our goal is to train the next generation of researchers and innovators in sustainable textiles," said Atalay.

The Carl Meiser GmbH & Co. KG - started in the early 1950s as a day- and nightwear manufacturer. Over the last 20 years the company has become a specialist in the field of technical textiles. With its brand nopma Technical Textiles the company is present as developer and producer of textile solutions via coatings. The main products are nopma anti-slip - textiles with anti-slip effect, nopma adhesion - adhesive pre-coated films, spacer fabrics and substrates for lamination in automotive interiors, nopma ceramics - abrasive more resistant textile surfaces and nopma silicones - silicone coatings on textile surfaces.

Textination talked to the managing director, Jens Meiser, who joined the company in 2005, realigned the division and developed it into a service provider, about his plans and objectives.

Founded in 1952, Carl Meiser GmbH & Co.KG has changed from a day- and nightwear manufacturer to an innovator in the field of technical textiles, presenting themselves as a specialist for plastic-based coating processes. If you had to introduce yourself in 100 words to someone who does not know the company: What has influenced you most in this development process and what makes you unique?
Innovation is the new normal - This has been true for the textile industry not just since Sars CoV-2. Our industry was one of the first to be disrupted in the early 1990s and has always been subject to constant change. This urge for further development, which is essential for survival, has left its mark on us intensively and has enabled us to manage huge leaps in innovation in recent years

Today we regard ourselves as an innovative development and production service provider with a focus on textile coating. We develop and produce almost exclusively customized special solutions.

Through the combination of coatings on textiles these hybrid materials receive completely new properties.

You manufacture exclusively at your location in Germany. Why? Have you never been tempted to set up subsidiaries in other countries, for example to benefit from lower wage levels?
Today we supply global supply chains from our headquarter in southern Germany. Although we produce in a high-wage country, much more important for us are know-how and the drive of our team to create something new. Globalization will continue to be the key to success in the future. Therefore, subsidiaries in North America and Asia could be very interesting for us in the medium- and long-term perspective. However, this is still too early for us.

You use CIP and Kaizen techniques intensively in your company. How did a Japanese concept come about in the Swabian Alb?
KAIZEN, the change for the better, are actually German virtues. The urge to improve and optimize things is in all of us. Due to the continuous improvement process we do not stand still but evolve constantly. Besides, there is the personal affinity to Japan. A look at another culture simply opens the horizon. And if you additionally recognize parallels in the working methods, it’s even better. 

10 years ago, you turned your attention to new markets: aviation, automotive, protection, caravan and furniture manufacturing, to name just a few. Some of these segments have collapsed significantly during the Covid 19 pandemic. What market development do you expect in the medium term and what consequences will this have for your company?
Of course, the aviation or automotive industry, for example, have substantial problems during or due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Quite honestly, many of these problems existed before. They were further tightened, as if a fire accelerator has been used. Of course, these cut-backs are also hitting us hard economically. But we are pursuing long-term goals. As a medium-sized company, you have to have the resilience to continue on your path. Thanks to our specialisation and the split of our industrial sectors, which we drive forward every day, we manage to decouple ourselves more and more from economic developments in individual industries. For our customers this is a great advantage of relying on a very stable partner with long-term orientation.

We are positive about the future. Megatrends like sustainability, digitization and ongoing globalization will lead to new business models in the above-mentioned sectors, as in many others, and to renewed growth. Our coatings on textiles and flexible woven materials can contribute a wide range of solutions to this. If, for example, materials become lighter with identical usage properties or suddenly become biodegradable, because of biodegradable plastics, many new opportunities will arise.

Tailor-made instead of solutions for major customers: The topic of individualization down to batch size 1 is making up a large part of the discussion today. In 2015, you opened a large development laboratory where you have a wide range of testing technologies for textiles and plastics available. What do you think about individual product solutions, and in which application areas have you successfully implemented them?
In principle, we do not use any standards. We live individualization with the smallest possible batch sizes. In our field, we do not manage batch size 1, but we start with MOQs of 300 running meters at process-safe series production. We have very few finished products, and above all we have no collections. Our development laboratory is the key for this. Together with our customers we have the possibilities to realize very lean development processes.

Even on a laboratory scale, we can develop and test new products within just a few hours. We then strive to scale up to production at a very early stage in order to obtain production series results. This way, we offer our clients speed and power that represent a special potential for our partners.

You register important input factors in the production process and evaluate them in monthly environmental analyses. What are these factors in concrete terms and to what extent have their analyses already changed production operations? How do you define environmental management for your company?
For us, environmental management means a holistic approach. In principle, we operate production units and manufacture products that consume many resources. Due to the high production volumes, this continues to accumulate. Because of this, it is self-understanding that we record and evaluate our input and output flows and derive measures from them. This makes economic sense, but is also necessary because of our responsibility for our environment. Specifically, these are energy consumption values, consumption data of primary chemicals, electricity load peaks, our Co2 footprint, just to name a few. This consideration has changed us in many areas. Today we operate a power plant with gas condensing technology, our free roof areas are greened or carry photovoltaic modules, we offer our employees and visitors electric filling stations and finally we have converted the entire power supply of our factory to environmentally friendly hydroelectric power.

With nopma, you have been building up a brand for the technical textiles industry since several years and communicate this via an Individual website parallel to Carl Meiser GmbH & Co. KG. How did this brand name come about and what is the product portfolio behind it?
This is the name of a first technical textile product from the 1990s. It was a textile - coated with dots. Dots on a knitted fabric. NOPMA. My father created this brand.

In 2016 you invested in an additional production line for nopma products and were able to start a directly serial delivery in the NAFTA area. How do you currently assess the market opportunities for North America and Mexico?
We continue to see opportunities in globalization and thus on the North American market also. However, these markets are still severely affected by the pandemic and there are major distortions. When these return to normal, we surely will see more success on these markets again.

As an innovation leader, Meiser offers solvent-free PU adhesive systems as pre-coatings for lamination. How do you assess the importance of such innovations in the context of REACH?
These innovations offer our customers the opportunity to decouple themselves from the pressure REACH triggers in some industries. However, we also have some products that have been developed newly in recent months. This keeps us busy, but also creates opportunities to open up new market segments.

How have you felt about the corona era to date - as a company and personally? What would you on no account want to go through again and what might you even consider maintaining on a daily basis?
I think this time has also strengthened us as a society, as people and even as entrepreneurs. Each crisis you go through makes you a little more relaxed for the unforeseen, but also more motivated to achieve your goals. In my opinion, there have been a lot of positive things in the last few months. Suddenly, for example, digitalization tools have become accepted in our everyday lives, and I feel that people are paying more attention to others again. Hopefully this will stay this way.

The futuristic "tube" escalator at the Elbphilharmonie Concert Hall is just as impressive as the building itself and the longest escalator in western Europe. In August, a start-up based in Cologne installed an UV technology that keeps the handrails clean at all times. At the same time, you presented an antiviral functional coating that can be applied to all textiles in the form of yard goods. How does this work and for what purposes will this technology be suitable?
We have already been working with antimicrobial finishing techniques for many years. This already started with the swine flu in 2009/2010, when we made initial contacts with a young start-up and launched a development. Due to a lack of market interest, however, this had to be discontinued after a few months. Today we are experts in the field of "antimicrobial equipment by means of coatings". We were also able to build up an enormous amount of knowledge on the subject of approval and biocide regulation. Today, we can support our customers holistically in these areas. The function by skin-compatible active substances from the cosmetics sector with a vesicle booster can kill viruses and bacteria within a few minutes.
Since the pandemic has shown us the enormous importance of a new level of hygiene, the applications are very diverse and differentiated. We have already realized the use in personal protective equipment, work furniture, vehicles and for example gloves. In principle, every application is predestined where textile carriers are exposed to many touches by different persons in high frequency. Here our nopma products offer a new level of protection and hygiene.

To break new ground means decisiveness, overcoming fears - and thus the courage to fail. Not every project can succeed. In retrospect - about which entrepreneurial decision are you particularly glad to have made it?
We fail again and again. This is part of the game. But it has never happened that we did not learn anything. The pandemic situation is another good example. In spring we accepted our corporate responsibility for our society and were one of two companies in Baden-Württemberg to achieve certification for FFP protective masks. Since we did not want to participate in the revolver market at that time, we offered these products only to the public sector at favourable pre-crisis prices. However, the decision makers could not make up their minds for weeks and did not order. This disappointed our whole team very much at that time. Today we have overcome this and have taken a lot of knowledge with us from this development.

The interview was conducted by Ines Chucholowius, CEO Textination GmbH