Textiles and circular economy. How Martel communicates sustainable innovation

Textiles and Circular Economy. How Martel communicates sustainable innovation

Removing hazardous substances from the environmentA cream-colored fabric, presented at Proposte Fair, the world-renowned Italian furnishing textile exhibition, could represent a step forward when it comes to reducing textiles’ plastics waste and removing hazardous substances from the environment through a sustainable recycling process.

The REACT project, a European-funded Research and Innovation Action, showcased on the stage of Proposte Fair a cutting-edge fabric obtained from outdoor awnings’ waste. 

The displayed prototype addresses some of the major challenges for recycling outdoor textile. Exposure to the weather, deterioration and various chemical treatments highly affect the possibilities to reduce the amount of landfill and incineration, prevent waste from disposal, and re-use acrylic textile. The recycling of this fabric requires a complex process to remove the hazardous substances and finally produce a viable second-hand raw material.

 

REACT’s innovative techniques to remove hazardous substances from the environment and create a carbon-neutral economy

The REACT consortium partners brought together different expertise to search for an ecological and economical way to transform the acrylic textile waste, allowing European fabric producers to be more self-sustainable and create a virtuous circular economy development in the vertical sector. 

The initiative started with Parà (Italy), industry leader in textiles, which collected and categorized the sources of waste within its production. Secondly, the research and testing centers of Centrocot (Italy) and Ghent University (Belgium), in collaboration with the Bergamo University, fine-tuned the treatment systems to identify the different finishing and remove the hazardous chemicals from the gathered samples. Another specialized research center on textiles, CETI (France), advanced the fraying technique and the open-end spinning process as a third step. The Ják Spinning company (Hungary) developed the ring-spinning method while Soft Chemicals (Italy), textile chemical supplier, set up the pilot plant for the non-mechanical treatment of the finishing. The innovation loop closed with Parà, which warped, weaved, and finally covered the finishing treatment to obtain the refined secondary raw material showcased at Proposte Fair. 

Martel Innovate is proud to take part in this project and to communicate and disseminate the progress of innovation and sustainability of the textile industry, in its aim to remove hazardous substances from the environment. This is a key sector in Europe’s transition towards a circular economy according to the European Commission (EC)’s Circular Economy Action Plan and European Green Deal. 

The Martel Media team has been closely following the steps of the REACT innovation journey, voicing the results, and increasing the project outreach. Our motion graphic and communication and dissemination specialists, Galileo Disperati and Clementina Piani, portrayed this successful outcome with images, videos, news items to specialized media outlets, and a promotional campaign on social media. In Italy, at Proposte Fair, Galileo and Clementina interviewed the partners about their work, the challenges they faced, and the business relationships developed during the research project.

 

This collaboration paved the way to an acrylics’ recycling process where resource efficiency and environmental sustainability are cornerstones, in line with the European motto toward a circular economy: repair, reuse, and recycle. The overall aim is to remove hazardous substances from the environment

By optimizing the value chain, reducing waste, and looping resources, the EC aims to rebalance the continent’s footprint on the environment and achieve climate neutrality by 2050. Removing hazardous substances from the environment and reorienting resource-driven sectors such as the textile industry is an ambitious task, but technology and innovation can lend a hand. Walking through the international stands of the Proposte Fair, any visitor could see first-hand applications of green technologies and their breakthrough for circularity. Sustainability can be embodied in industrial value chains and Martel is eager to support research and innovation projects which overcome the obstacles to an environmentally friendly economy with the Horizon Europe fundings.   

Did you know that over 35% of Horizon Europe spending is dedicated to climate objectives?

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