The project ran between December 2021 and June 2024.
The project, which was part of the innovation project Circular Textile Innovations – Sustainable system change in the textile industry (CITEX).
The textile industry faces the challenge of reducing reliance on environmentally harmful fibers and materials, with an urgent need for sustainable and functional alternatives. The project aims to develop new fiber blends and yarn spinning techniques to increase the use of bio-based and recycled fibers. This will result in yarns with lower environmental impact while maintaining product performance, ultimately leading to greater use of sustainable textile materials in the industry.
Through collaboration between researchers and industry partners, the project has developed new fiber blends, optimized spinning techniques, and tested material performance. This work has led to five main concepts and two sub-concepts, with an increase in TRL (Technology Readiness Level) by 1-3 steps.
A sustainability analysis, in the form of a life cycle assessment (LCA), was conducted on the two concepts that reached the highest TRL level. The analysis shows that the greatest climate impact comes from electricity consumption during production, while transportation has less significance. Additionally, environmental burdens such as water and land use decrease when recycled materials are used instead of virgin materials. Results from two sub-concepts will be further developed in new projects that are already underway. There is also strong interest in advancing the other concepts.
Participants
Albany international AB, FOV Fabrics AB, Houdini Sportswear AB, University of Borås, ICA Sverige AB, Mallas Stenstugu AB (Ullkontoret), Pure Waste Textiles Oy, Rester Oy, RISE Research Institutes of Sweden AB, Stadium Sweden AB, TreeToTextile AB and Trikåby AB.
Budget
The project’s budget was 8 139 000 SEK.