From the Sector

ISKO announces its participation in CSAIL’s Alliances programme, a collaboration with CSAIL researchers, students and industry partners. Through participation in the programme, ISKO will contribute its expertise in textile innovation and collaborate on the research and development of smart textiles and wearable technologies.

The company joins a network of 26 industries – from startups to big organizations – including AI and machine learning, aerospace, healthcare, life sciences and telecommunications, as well as retail, media and entertainment.

With the goal of overall advancement of the textile and denim industry through the development of smart and wearable solutions, ISKO is stepping up to lead the change through these technologies and their many possible end-uses. The work is done in compliance with ISKO’s Responsible Innovation™ approach.

ISKO brings its innovative and agile structure, impressive production capacity and textile knowledge to the CSAIL programme which has over 1200 people, 60 research groups, 120+ researchers, 600+ students and over 900+ active projects.

• Borealis deepens partnership with innovative recycling solutions provider Renasci N.V., acquiring a 10% minority stake in the Belgium-based creator of the Smart Chain Processing (SCP) concept
• Deal supports Borealis integrated approach to achieve a true circular economy of plastics in the most eco-efficient way, as defined by its circular cascade model
• EverMinds™ in action: Game-changing collaboration to accelerate plastics circularity

Borealis announces that it has entered into a multi-dimensional partnership with Renasci N.V., a provider of innovative recycling solutions and creator of the novel Smart Chain Processing (SCP) concept. The partnership is another key enabler for Borealis to realise its ambitions to bring circular base chemicals and polyolefins to market, and to deliver on its promise to bring 350 kilotons of recycled polyolefins into circulation by 2025.

SCP concept leaves no waste behind
The SCP concept developed by Renasci is a proprietary method of maximising material recovery in order to achieve zero waste. It is unique because it enables the processing of multiple waste streams using different recycling technologies – all under one roof. At the newly-built Renasci SCP facility in Oostende, Belgium, mixed waste – plastics, metals, and biomass – is automatically selected and sorted multiple times.

After sorting, plastic waste is first mechanically recycled, and then in a second step any remaining material is chemically recycled into circular pyrolysis oil and lighter product fractions, which are used to fuel the process.

Other types of sorted waste such as metals and organic refuse are further processed using other technologies. In the end, only 5% of the original waste remains, and even this residual material is not landfilled, but used as filler in construction materials. Because of this extremely efficient way of processing, the overall CO2 footprint of these waste streams is greatly reduced – yet another advantage of the circular SCP concept.

The cascade model is Borealis’ integrated circular approach
Borealis circular cascade model sits at the heart of its ambition to achieve a truly circular economy, by combining carefully chosen technologies in a complementary and cascading way to achieve full circularity. In this way, Borealis aims to give plastic products multiple lifetimes in the most sustainable way possible. Starting with optimising product design, first for eco-efficiency, then for re-use and finally for recycling. Once a product has reached its end of life, we must close the plastics loop: first with mechanical recycling to make products with the highest possible value, quality and lowest carbon footprint; then utilising chemical recycling, as a complement to mechanical recycling, to further valorise residual streams which would otherwise go to incineration, or even worse to landfills. The valorised material from mechanical and chemical recycling is then processed with Borealis Borcycle™ recycling technology consisting of Borcycle M for mechanical recycling and Borcycle C for chemical recycling, providing high quality solutions for more sophisticated applications, such as food packaging and healthcare.

The SCP concept is aligned to Borealis’ ambition to close the loop on plastic waste as encapsulated in its circular cascade model.

U.S. Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Gary Peters (D-MI), Ranking Member and Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, applauded the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee for passing their bipartisan legislation that will strengthen efforts to onshore production of personal protective equipment (PPE) in the United States by requiring federal agencies to issue long-term contracts for American-made PPE. Reshoring production will ensure American workers, health care professionals, and more have the PPE they need as the economy continues to reopen. Domestic production of PPE supplies also will create American manufacturing jobs and ensure that America is better prepared for the next pandemic.

Contact restrictions, home office and altered daily lives – our lives in 2020 were radically changed. This was also the case for various sectors of the economy, including the textile and clothing industry. However, with crisis come opportunities and stimuli for change. Under the motto “Still Physical”, manufacturers recount their personal success stories in 2020 – the industry can look forward to a selection of sustainable materials curated exclusively by the PERFORMANCE FORUM Jury. Areas of focus: natural fibers that highlight wellbeing aspects, plant-based materials that make us strong and excite on an emotional level, bio-nylons and bio-based finishings that rethink function. “Still Physical – Your Success Story of 2020” will be on display online as the first of its kind within a trade fair week from 17 to 21 May 2020.

Transformation: Technology first?
The pandemic has forced us into new, primarily digital forms of living and working. Our daily lives are characterised by home offices, home schooling and online meetings. The desire for real, physically perceptible experiences has grown incessantly within the last year. In the same context, people nowadays are strongly driven by technological progress – yet how far can we allow technological change to go and how do we wish to live in the future? Long before the pandemic, the trend towards self-monitoring and control of important bodily functions developed. The sports industry developed tools to measure levels of performance and monitor bodily functions with the goal of enhancing performance. Self-optimisation, body shaping and health promotion have become standard nowadays. Staying healthy and keeping fit are now social imperatives in our performance-oriented society. The pandemic has made us rethink, made us pause – with sustainable function still in focus, yet function needs to be rethought for the future, distancing ourselves from mere performance enhancement, and embracing clothing that facilitates people in feeling good.

Touch & Feel
In a visual, digital world, one sense has been forgotten: the sense of touch. Materials trigger completely different reactions, consciously or unconsciously. Moreover, the surface texture is also decisive in the functionality of a fabric, lending it its unique characteristics. In times of contact restrictions and lockdown, there is a need for a space for emotions, for regeneration and physical wellbeing. This is also reflected in the desire for appropriate apparel that leaves a pleasant sensation on the skin. Lightweight, warm and of a softer nature, plant-based fibers fulfil the desire for comfort and promote wellbeing.

We are physical – we are nature
How will we shape and adapt the post-pandemic textile and apparel industry? The Corona crisis once again reminds us of our existential bond with the natural world. While humanity fights against the spread of a deadly virus with social isolation, one thing is doing well: our planet. It is recovering from all the exhaust gases that are released into the air daily by cars and factories. There is a shift in focus towards taking time out in nature, whether in the form of a morning run, a mountain hike or a yoga session on the grass.

Your success story of 2020
What has touched them? Which experiences have shaped their latest innovations? Does the crisis also present opportunities? The chance for something new, for a rethink, on an even more sustainable, more ecological path? Which highlights, which stories are worth communicating and where did the focus lie in 2020? Various material manufacturers already started to focus on sustainability and the cautious use of resources some time ago. Innovations in the areas of materials and in processing methods are the driving forces of the development towards more sustainability. However, we need to realign all processes and structures in our supply and production chains and adapt them to the needs of a resource-conserving, responsible industry. A pioneering example of such alignment was the decision of PERFORMANCE DAYS to only present sustainable materials at the PERFORMANCE FORUM from the November 2019 trade fair event onwards. Additionally, the setting-up of the new digital sourcing platform “THE LOOP” shows how technology can be implemented aside from material and processing innovations in such a way that our procedures and structures can be adapted to difficult conditions.

Informative & up-to-date: the digital trade fair week from 17 to 21 May 2021
As usual, the highlighted fabrics from the Focus Topic “Still Physical”, which the exhibitors have defined as their personal success stories, will be available shortly on the PERFORMANCE DAYS website highlighting all details and facets.