From the Sector

Kelheim Fibres, a leading manufacturer of viscose speciality fibres, has joined Recycling Atelier Augsburg. Recycling Atelier Augsburg is a unique centre for research and development in the field of textile recycling. It is located at the Institut für Textiltechnik Augsburg an affiliated institute of Augsburg University of Applied Sciences. The two institutions founded the Recycling Atelier in June 2022 together with twelve partners from the German textile industry.

In the Recycling Atelier, the focus is on the triad of technical and ecological sense as well as economic benefit. In this way, the partners of the Recycling Atelier are standing up against fast fashion, outsourced corporate responsibility and a general decline in raw material quality, which often fuels downcycling - the low-quality reuse - of materials.

As a model factory, the Recycling Atelier Augsburg combines the most important processes of textile recycling and offers holistic and comprehensive research along the value chain," explains Georg Stegschuster, head of the Recycling Atelier Augsburg. The scientists research on all process steps of textile recycling: from material analysis to sorting, preparation and textile processing to sustainable product design. Comprehensive data collection and the use of artificial intelligence as well as innovative materials play a central role.

Kelheim Fibres is a producer of high-quality viscose fibres, which consist of cellulose, the main component of the renewable raw material wood, and are used worldwide for products in areas such as hygiene, textiles, and technical applications.

"In New Business Development as well as Fibre and Application Development, we follow the Open Innovation concept - the cooperation with the Recycling Atelier offers us an ideal platform for this. Here we work with partners to advance sustainability and performance," explains Maik Thiel, project manager at Kelheim Fibres.

Recycled cotton fibres are often very short or of uneven length, which makes further processing of 100 % recycled material a challenge. Adding speciality fibres from Kelheim Fibres should enable the production of high-quality new products, such as nonwovens. In the future, the fibres provided by Kelheim Fibres will also be made from recycled pulp.

For the third time, nova-Institute awards the “Cellulose Fibre Innovation of the Year” award in the frame of the “Cellulose Fibres Conference 2023” (8-9 March 2023). The conference advisory board nominated six remarkable products, including cellulose fibres from textile waste, banana production waste and bacterial pulp, a novel technology for producing lyocell yarns and a hygiene product. The innovations will be put to the vote of the conference audience on the first day of the event, with the awards ceremony taking place in the evening. The innovation award “Cellulose Fibre Innovation of the Year 2023” is sponsored by GIG Karasek (AT).

Here are the six nominees
Vybrana – The new generation banana fibre – GenCrest Bioproducts (India)
Vybrana is a Gencrest’s Sustainable Cellulosic Fibre upcycled from agrowaste. Raw fibres are extracted from the Banana Pseudo stem at the end of the plant lifecycle. The biomass waste is then treated by the Gencrest patented Fiberzyme technology. Here, cocktail enzyme formulations remove the high lignin content and other impurities and help fibre fibrillation. The company's proprietary cottonisation process provides fine, spinnable cellulose staple fibres suitable for blending with other staple fibres and can be spun on any conventional spinning systems giving yarns sustainable apparel. Vybrana is produced without the use of heavy chemicals and minimized water consumption and in a waste-free process where balance biomass is converted to bio stimulants Agrosatva and Bio Fertilizers & organic manure.

HeiQ AeoniQ™ – technology for more sustainability of textiles – HeiQ (Austria)
HeiQ AeoniQ™ is the disruptive technology and key initiative from HeiQ with the potential to change the sustainability of textiles. It is the first climate-positive continuous cellulose filament yarn, made in a proprietary manufacturing process and the first to reproduce the properties of polyester and nylon yarns in a cellulosic, biodegradable, and endlessly recyclable fibre.
HeiQ AeoniQ™ can be manufactured from different cellulosic raw materials such as pre- and post-consumer textile waste, biotech cellulose, and non-valorized agricultural waste, such as ground coffee waste or banana peels. It naturally degrades after only 12 weeks in the soil. Each ton of HeiQ AeoniQ™ saves 5 tons of CO2 emissions. The first garments made with this innovative cellulosic filament fiber were commercially launched in January 2023.

TENCEL™ LUXE – lyocell filament yarn – Lenzing (Austria)
TENCEL™ LUXE is LENZING’s new versatile lyocell yarn that offers an urgently needed sustainable filament solution for the textile and fashion industry. A possible botanical alternative for silk, long-staple cotton, and petrol-based synthetic filaments, is derived from wood grown in renewable, sustainably managed forests, and produced in an environmentally sound, closed-loop process that recycles water and reuses more than 99 % of organic solvent. Certified by The Vegan Society, it is suitable for a wide range of applications and fabric developments, from finer high fashion propositions to denim constructions, seamless and activewear innovations, and even agricultural and technical solutions.

Nullarbor™ – Nanollose & Birla Cellulose (Australia/India)
In 2020, Nanollose & Birla Cellulose started a journey to develop and commercialize tree-free lyocell from bacterial cellulose, called Nullarbor™. The name derives from the Latin “nulla arbor” which means “no trees”. Initial lab research at both ends led to a joint patent application with the patent “production of high-tenacity lyocell fibres made from bacterial cellulose”.
Nullarbor is significantly stronger than lyocell made from wood-based pulp; even adding small amounts of bacterial cellulose to wood pulp increases the fibre toughness. In 2022, the first pilot batch of 260kg was produced with 20 % bacterial pulp share. Several high-quality fabrics and garments were produced with this fibre. The collaboration between Nanollose & Birla Cellulose now focuses on increasing the production scale and amount of bacterial pulp in the fibre.

Circulose® – makes fashion circular – Renewcell (Sweden)
Circulose® made by Renewcell is a branded dissolving pulp made from 100 % textile waste, like worn-out clothes and production scraps. It provides a unique material for fashion that is 100 % recycled, recyclable, biodegradable, and of virgin-equivalent quality. It is used by fibre producers to make staple fibre or filaments like viscose, lyocell, modal, acetate or other types of man-made cellulosic fibres. In 2022, Renewcell, opened the world’s first textile-to-textile chemical recycling plant in Sundsvall, Sweden – Renewcell 1. The plant will eventually reach 120,000 tons of annual capacity.

Sparkle sustainable sanitary pads – Sparkle Innovations (United States)
Globally, around 300 billion period products are discarded every year, resulting in millions of tons of non-biodegradable waste. Since most conventional sanitary pads contain up to 90 % plastics, they do not biodegrade for around 600 years. Sparkle has designed sustainable, plastic-free, biodegradable and compostable Sparkle sanitary pads. From product to packaging, they are made up of around 90 % cellulose-based materials with top sheet, absorbent core, release paper, wrapping paper and packaging made of cellulose-based fibres. Whether Sparkle pads end up in a compost pit, are incinerated or end up in a landfill, they are a more sustainable alternative compared to conventional pads that contain large amounts of plastics, complex petro-chemical based ingredients and artificial fragrances. When tested according to ISO 14855-1 by a leading independent lab in Europe, Sparkle pads reached over 90 % absolute biodegradation within 90 days in commercial composting conditions.

By using a high share of recycled content in its Evolon® materials, Freudenberg Performance Materials (Freudenberg) offers technical packaging textiles with a carbon footprint decreased by 35%. An independent LCA study showed additional benefits such as energy resource savings and lower water use. Furthermore, Evolon® fabrics provide sustainability benefits over the packaging entire life cycle thanks to high end performance and durability.

By replacing virgin PET with recycled PET, the cradle-to-gate carbon footprint of Evolon® packaging textile materials decreased by 35%. This is the result of a study by an independent LCA and eco-design consultancy firm, which made a Cradle-to-Gate assessment of several Evolon® products using virgin PET or recycled PET. The study was finalized in 2022 and conducted according to the principles of ISO 14040/ ISO 14044 standards, following the recommendations of the Product Environmental Footprint and the Circular Footprint Formula.

Evolon® microfilament textiles have a small carbon footprint because their manufacturing process uses low CO2 energy sources. The fabrics are lightweight and can be reused throughout entire production programs, e.g. of a car model when it is about the automotive industry. Furthermore, the new Evolon® RE fabrics contain up to 85% of recycled PET which is produced in-house out of post-consumer PET bottles.

Evolon® textiles are suitable for reusable technical packaging, which eliminate the use of thousands of disposable packaging materials. Evolon® fabrics offer scratch-free, lint-free, high-end surface protection for molded plastic parts, painted parts and other sensitive industrial and automotive parts during transport. This contributes to lower the scrap rate of parts and provide both financial and ecological benefits. By using Evolon® reusable packaging to transport highly-sensitive parts, customers can increase their efficiency and save resources.

The UK’s new Business Secretary, Grant Shapps has visited the Henry Royce Institute’ hub in Manchester to seal the second phase of R&D investment in the institute of £95 million. Fibre Extrusion Technology Limited (FET) of Leeds, England had previously installed its FET-200LAB wet spinning system at the University of Manchester site and this proved to be a focus for the Business Secretary’s interest, as he discussed the project with FET’s Research and Development Manager, Mark Smith.

This wet spinning technology enables fibres to be derived from sustainable wood pulp to produce high quality apparel and trials are now underway to perfect this process. FET is a world leading supplier of laboratory and pilot melt spinning systems, having successfully processed more than 35 different polymer types in multifilament, monofilament and nonwoven formats.

During his visit, Shapps spoke of the investment programme as a means of reinforcing the UK’s standing as a leader in advanced materials research, development and innovation.

“R&D investment is a critical way to turbocharge Britain’s growth. Growing an economy fit for the future means harnessing the full potential of advanced materials, making science fiction a reality by supporting projects from regenerative medicine to robots developing new recycling capabilities, right across the country. Today’s £95 million investment will do just that, bringing together the brightest minds across our businesses and institutions to help future-proof sectors from healthcare to nuclear energy.”

The Henry Royce Institute was established in 2015 with an initial £235 million government investment through the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the latest £95 million sum represents the second phase of the investment.

Opportunities being investigated by Royce include lightweight materials and structures, biomaterials and materials designed for reuse, recycling and remanufacture. Advanced materials are critical to the UK future in various industries, such as health, transport, energy, electronics and utilities.

The textile industry is the third largest consumer of plastics. While growth rates in the production of fibres and textiles are high, the circular economy has hardly become established in this segment. The EREMA Group is now intensifying development of recycling solutions for this application with their new fibres and textiles business unit. Currently, the focus is on PET fibre materials from fibre production and subsequent processing steps. Technologies for recycling mixed fibre textiles from textile collection sources are to follow in a follow-up project phase.

"With EREMA's VACUREMA® and INTAREMA® technology and PURE LOOP's ISEC evo technology, our company group already has an extensive range of machines for fibre and PET recycling applications. For ecologically and economically sound recycling, however, new technological solutions are needed to use the recycled fibres in higher-value end applications and to achieve a functioning circular economy," explains Wolfgang Hermann, Business Development Manager Application Fibres & Textiles, EREMA Group GmbH. The initial focus will be on PET, regarded as a key material for the production of synthetic fibres. The aim is to find recycling solutions that allow PET fibre materials to be prepared for reuse in PET fibre production processes. This is a significant step for the circular economy because PET fibres in textiles account for about two-thirds of the total volume of PET.

In this development work, the EREMA Group can build on existing know-how. Proven recycling technologies have been combined with a new IV optimiser. "This extends the residence time of the PET melt, which is particularly necessary in fibre recycling to efficiently remove spinning oils. Our recycling process also increases the IV value of the PET melt after extrusion back to the specific level that is essential for production of the fibre," explains Hermann. Waste PET fibre from production processes can therefore be further processed into rPET filament fibre, carpet yarn and staple fibre.

Fibre test centre with plant to test customers' materials
In order to accelerate development work, EREMA opened its own fibre test centre a few months ago, where a cross-company team is working on recycling solutions for fibre-to-fibre applications.

Launched this September, the new Horizon Europe project CISUTAC will support the transition to a circular and sustainable textile sector. As part of a consortium of 27 partners working on the project, TEXAID will among others support the project with sorting, disassembly and repair trials.

The production and consumption of textile products continue to grow, together with their impact on the environment, due to a lack of reuse, repair and recycling of materials. Quality, durability, and recyclability are often not being set as priorities in the design and manufacturing of clothing (EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles, March 2022).  

CISUTAC aims to remove current bottlenecks in order to increase textile circularity in Europe. The objective is to minimise the sector’s total environmental impact by developing sustainable, novel, and inclusive large-scale European value chains.  

The project will cover most parts of the textile sector by working on two material groups representing almost 90% of all textile fibre materials (polyester, and cotton/cellulosic fibres), and focusing on products from three sub-sectors experiencing varying circularity bottlenecks (fashion garments, sports and outdoor goods, and workwear).  

CISUTAC will follow a holistic approach covering the technical, sectoral and socio-economic aspects, and will perform three pilots to demonstrate the feasibility and value of:

• Repair and disassembly
• Sorting (for reuse and recycling)
• Circular garments through fibre-to-fibre recycling and design for circularity

To realise these pilots, the consortium partners will:

• Develop semi-automated workstations
• Analyse the infrastructure and material flows
• Digitally enhance sorting operations (for reuse and recycling)
• Raise awareness among the consumers and the textile industry

As part of the CISUTAC consortium, TEXAID, will conduct different trials of sorting, repair, and disassembly, and be active in the LCA and Standardisation work packages.

The substance graphene can become increasingly important as a component in textile catalysts when purifying water from textile dyeing as has been shown in a recently completed doctoral project at the University of Borås.

In his project, Milad Asadi, a new doctor in Textile Technology, has modified conventional yarn by encapsulating iron particles in graphene and developed a multifunctional smart e-textile. The focus was on developing a method for purifying wastewater from textile dyeing. The smart e-textile acts as a catalyst that causes the substance hydrogen peroxide to be formed, which is needed in order to break down pollutants in wastewater.

The project has generated a complete textile reactor for the treatment of wastewater through the so-called electro-Fenton technology, which is mainly used industrially to purify wastewater. The novelty of the technology is to use the properties of both graphene and iron, which is the main catalyst.

“Previous research has mainly been about the treatment of wastewater by using chemicals to break down the textile dyes. My project is the first where graphene, which is electrically conductive, is used to encapsulate iron. The e-textile can also be used several times, unlike when chemicals are used and which are then rinsed off. The challenge in the project was to scale up the technology so that the treated yarn can be fed into automatic knitting machines”, explained Milad Asadi.

The e-textile catalyst can be reused and hydrogen peroxide is formed internally inside the reactor, which reduces the use of biological catalysts, making the technology more sustainable compared to chemical methods.

Catering to the acoustic requirements of electric vehicles, Autoneum has extended its concepts for noise-reducing engine encapsulations to new applications related to electric drives. Hybrid-Acoustics PET and the foam-based alternatives Hybrid-Acoustics FLEX and Fit FLEX ensure optimum noise protection in e-cars and thus improve driving comfort. All three technologies are characterized by a high acoustic performance tailored to specific customer needs and zero waste production.

Disturbing noises such as the high-frequency sounds of e-motors and other electric devices or the whining noise of the gearbox are posing new acoustic challenges for vehicle manufacturers worldwide. Anticipating the increasing demand for sound-reducing components in both the front and the rear of e-cars early on, Autoneum has expanded its technologies for noise protection in the engine bay to new tailor-made applications for electric vehicles.

With the fibrous technology Hybrid-Acoustics PET and the two foam alternatives Hybrid-Acoustics FLEX and Fit FLEX, the Company offers three standardized technologies that reduce noise directly at the source, thereby improving driver comfort. All three technologies are produced waste-free and their adaptive capacity to different sizes and shapes allows for a broad spectrum of uses in electric vehicles: from e-motor encapsulations to the reduction of noise and vibration of inverters, gearbox, pumps and compressors. By offering both fibrous and foam-based variants, Autoneum is able to flexibly cater to individual customer needs and preferences with regard to material, acoustic concept, sustainability and costs.

In terms of sustainable noise protection in the engine bay, Autoneum’s patented innovation Hybrid-
Acoustics PET sets the tone: it is made of 100 percent PET with up to 50 percent recycled fibers; cut-offs in production are reclaimed, processed and reused and the material can be fully recycled at the end of product life. The unique textile technology, which is part of the Company’s sustainability label Autoneum Pure, is particularly suited to attenuating high-frequency sounds of the electric drive unit and offers the optimum balance of absorption and insulation. Moreover, components made of Hybrid-Acoustics PET are up to 40 percent lighter compared to standard insulators.

To accommodate the differing preferences of vehicle manufacturers, Autoneum has complemented its lightweight textile technology with two foam-based alternatives. Since the foam is injected in both technologies, no waste is generated during production either. Hybrid-Acoustics FLEX is based on the same acoustic concept as Hybrid-Acoustics PET, but the decoupler is made of foam instead of felt. Autoneum’s Fit FLEX, on the other hand, combines the foam decoupler with an injection molded heavy layer. Thanks to the high geometrical adaptability of foam to even complex shapes, both technologies offer outstanding acoustic performance in the insulation of e-motors and other noise sources in electric vehicles. Furthermore, the absorbing or insulating acoustic quality of the foam can be flexibly tuned to specific customer needs.

The sustainable collaboration and innovation between Indorama Ventures (IVL), Auping and TWE Group presented a certified cradle to cradle process for mattress components across nonwoven applications, at Techtextil, Frankfurt, 21st to 24th June 2022.

Using circular research and design, the industry partnership between IVL Mullagh (Ireland), Auping and TWE Group has resulted in a perpetual, sustainable economic business model, for manufacturers globally. The inclusion of safe raw materials within mattress manufacturing allows the materials to be easily disassembled at the product’s end of use in order to be further reused as same components or recycled into new raw material at the same quality level, to enable versatile textile applications.

Designed for disassembly to optimize the use of existing resources, reduce carbon footprint and support customer objectives all along their customers’ supply chain. This circular industry collaboration begins with design, where the mattress is constructed using only two different base materials, 100% PET polyester textiles and steel wire pocket springs connected with Niaga®️, a non toxic reversible adhesive, making the mattress easy to disassemble and recover.

IVL, Auping and TWE’s shared vision for a better world is demonstrated through their connected and innovative circularity that helps to close the loop. Auping collects, sorts and separates the collected fabrics, which then go to IVL Mullagh for processing, melting and extrusion to form polyester staple fiber. These staple fibers are then converted by TWE Group into nonwovens for use in Auping’s Evolve mattress, a fully circular mattress. Following the end of mattress use, the material recovery process simply starts again.

Auping estimates that annually more than 40 million mattresses are disposed of in Europe alone, the majority of which are incinerated. Their take back system in the Netherlands ensures that when their new mattress is delivered, the old mattress is retrieved and recycled, irrespective of the brand, ensuring existing materials are continually optimized, diverted from landfill and kept in use to achieve a circular economy.

Five players in the textile service industry announce the establishment of Cibutex (Circular Business Textiles). This new cooperative is dedicated to the recycling and recovery of fibres from discarded textiles. Cibutex wants to contribute to a circular textile chain through cooperation in the whole sector.

The textile service has been implementing key Circular Economy solutions for some time: rental, care, repair and reuse of textiles for professional use. "As an industry, we are in a position to delve even deeper into the world of the circular economy. Every linen rental company has many of the same products, which go through the same process every time: the textiles are washed, sorted and collected again after the period of use. After many washes, the textiles are rejected. With this rejected textile, we see a unique opportunity to finally put the idea of a closed textile chain into practice. The used textiles that have reached the end of their useful life can be recycled on an industrial scale and the fibre raw materials can be recovered to make new textiles. We want to exploit this potential to the full by founding Cibutex, a cooperative for all textile service providers in Europe," says Cibutex director Jan Lamme, explaining the background of the unique project.

Cross-competitive goal
The founders of Cibutex are four well-known, competing textile service companies and one supply partner: Blycolin Textile Services (Zaltbommel, NL), Dibella (Aalten), Edelweiss Groep (The Hague), Lamme Textile Management (Amsterdam, NL) and Nedlin (Elsloo, NL). The companies have deliberately joined forces in order to implement sustainability in textiles and clothing by means of closed material cycles throughout the sector.

"Important resources are hidden in our B2B used textiles. We want to recover these in cooperation with relevant recycling companies and thus promote textile recycling as demanded by the EU Commission. We have come together to achieve sufficient critical mass to determine the final recycling of our discarded laundry, with the goal of moving from textiles to textiles," says co-founder Luuk de Win (Nedlin).

Sustainable eco-balance
"By recycling the raw materials of our used textiles, we contribute to reducing the social, environmental and climate impacts of the textile industry related to cultivation and production, and this leads to a long-term improvement of the ecological footprint of our industry," adds co-founder Marc van Boekholt (Blycolin).

Increasing value
To make the final transformation step of the circular economic model "textile service" a success, any European textile service company can become a member of Cibutex. The cooperative takes care of the collection, transport to the recycling partners and remuneration for the old textiles, which are now limited to bed linen, table linen and bath linen. In the future, however, the group wants to develop solutions for other textiles as well. For example, the recycling of workwear is also on the agenda. The founders of Cibutex agree that this too is a treasure trove of resources that must be addressed.