I + D / Nuevos materiales y sostenibilidad. Revalorización de residuos, no tejidos y composites
Year: January 2021 – June 2022
MOTIVATION
Plastics are a huge environmental problem. In Spain, 800,000 tonnes of textile waste are thrown away every year as rubbish but the variety and complexity of each textile item means that this waste is difficult to recycle. Only 13% of clothing is recycled in some way after use. For this reason, and in the face of new legislation on sustainability, it is becoming increasingly easy to find textile companies interested in developing new, more environmentally friendly alternatives. Under this pretext, and as a result of previous research carried out in the Biomatter 2019-2020 project, where work on the biofabrication of cellulosic materials for home textiles and fashion was successfully initiated, the VEGGIE 2021 project aims to obtain materials of 100% natural origin and 100% biodegradable, making use of waste from forestry and agri-food industries, mainly from the Valencian Community.
OBJECTIVES
The main objective of VEGGIE 2021 is the research and development of added-value solutions for the textile sector resulting from the revaluation of agri-food/forestry waste and the use of 100% natural resources. To this end, the project will be divided into two clearly differentiated parts. On the one hand, a study will be carried out focusing on the biofabrication of leather-like materials from bacterial cellulose and raw materials and/or waste found in our environment; and, on the other, various methods will be studied to extract new natural fibres from invasive plants, with which to obtain value-added textile materials.
The resulting materials will be destined for the textile-home, fashion and accessories sector.
Within the framework of the project and in order to achieve the main objective, the specific technical objectives are the following:
- Study and analysis of waste for revaluation through the VEGGIE project.
- Study and analysis of invasive plants from which to extract fibres suitable for introduction into the textile sector.
- R&D of new natural fibres with which to obtain materials suitable for the spinning, weaving and/or nonwoven manufacturing process, thus obtaining textile solutions with high added value.
- R&D of alternative materials to animal leather and conventional leather-like materials made from bacterial cellulose. Implementation of agri-food/forestry waste in the biofabrication of this material.
- Study of the finishing process of textile solutions developed using various technologies.
- Characterisation of the sectors targeted by the project. Physical, chemical and mechanical characterisation. Functional analysis.
- Prototyping finished products for the fashion, accessories and home textiles sectors.
- Product evaluation study to determine the environmental impact.
RESULTS
- Obtaining alternative ecomaterials to replace animal leather or conventional leather-like materials which are suitable for the development of home textile articles.
- A material mainly composed of bacterial cellulose to which textile materials or agri-food and forestry wastes have been incorporated, giving a second useful life to this waste stream.
- The result is a distinctive material with enhanced mechanical properties suitable for use with conventional sewing techniques.
This project is funded by the Conselleria d’Economia Sostenible, Sectors Productius, Comerç i Treball de la Generalitat Valenciana, through IVACE, and is co funded by ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) from the European Commission within the framework of the Operational Programme ERDF for the Comunitat Valenciana 2021-2027.
Additional Information
- Grant number: IMDEEA/2021/41
- Amount: 196.885,83 €
- Year: 2021-2022
- Status: finished
- Entity: IVACE
