Funding period: June 2015 - November 2018 Funding type: Innovation Action Funded by: European Commission - Horizon 2020 Lead partner: RISE Research Institutes of Sweden
Trash-2-Cash responded to the problem of textile waste in the European Union. The project explored how high-quality regenerated materials could be co-created using 3 emerging recycling technologies.
The approach brought together design, science and industry partners. A novel design-driven methodology was also developed. A timely, yet complex challenge, circular design concepts informed the materials development in an iterative co-design process to produce 6 exemplar product prototypes.
Using the ‘de-polymerisation–re-polymerisation’ technology, the Trash-2-Cash scientists produced recycled polyester fibres from blended polyester-cotton and pure polyester waste textiles. From these fibres, a high-performing and printable textile was manufactured. Project scientists adapted a self-healing material usually used to make sealants for the aerospace industry to make it waterproof. Breathability was achieved by laser-cutting tiny air holes into the fabric. The coats are intended to be part of a rental business model that allows them to be properly recycled at the end of life.
As its name suggests, the shirt was designed to have as close to zero impact on the environment as possible. Trash-2-Cash scientists used a low-impact method to regenerate waste cotton into new Ioncell-F fibres. Instead of bleaching away the colour, it was left in, meaning that the blue textiles that went into the process produced pale blue fibres. These were woven by Trash-2-Cash manufacturers into a soft fabric with a beautiful drape that was transformed by designers in the project using zero-waste pattern-cutting techniques to ensure there were no offcuts left from the tailored shirt.
Trash-2-Cash fibre scientists were able to modify the Ioncell-F technology to regenerate cotton waste into new, super-fine fibres that replicate the softness of polyester fleece but without the plastic pollution. The manufacturers knitted and brushed the biodegradable fabric to produce a super-soft natural fleece-like fabric perfect for a baby. The non-bleached, colour-retaining technology also used in the 0° shirt was used again here, making this a super-low-impact alternative to polyester fleece.
Trash-2-Cash fibre scientists discovered a sustainable method for separating polyester and cotton so that the fibres can be reused. Some of that polyester can also be made into a stretchy alternative to elastane, meaning that the denim NAture jeans are made from waste materials but can also be recycled (unlike elastane that pollutes the fibre regeneration process). To prolong their useful life patch repair kits and a free end-of-life collection service would be provided with the garment.
To create a cool, moisture-wicking, Ioncell-F fabric from waste cotton, Trash-2-Cash fibre scientists made the fabric ‘hydrophobic’, by using a breakthrough technology that put the moisture management properties directly into the fibres at a molecular level. This technology negated the need for the fabric to go through additional chemical treatment.
Trash-2-Cash scientists and designers explored a variety of material innovations using T2C recycled polymers and fibres, laser etching, an innovative recyclable epoxy resin and textile print design for car interiors. These prototypes vastly improved the aesthetic of recycled materials which has long been a barrier for their use in the automotive industry.