Valorisation of natural, SUStainable fibres from local residues for TEXtile applications (SUSTEX 2.0)

On 10 March 2020, the European Commission laid the foundations for an industrial strategy. This strategy should support the dual transition to a green and digital economy leading to the achievement of the Green Deal. 14 industrial ecosystems were selected based on their strategic importance to receive full support from the EU. The textile industry is one of these sectors. According to the EU's vision, this means, among other things, that textile products entering the European market will have to be largely composed of bio-based and/or recycled fibres. Research into the usability of such fibres is therefore also necessary to make this objective possible. The various projects on the valorisation of hemp, carried out at FTILab+ and AgroFoodNature since 2017, fit perfectly within this strategy and also within one of the strategic innovation themes of the European Technology Platform for textiles & clothing, i.e. 'Durable, circular and biobased materials and processes', which should support this green transition. In addition, the conventional processing of fibres into textile products still requires high energy costs coupled with the use of large amounts of water and chemicals. It is therefore necessary to test and valorise alternative pre-treatment methods, and also to map the processability of the fibres obtained. FTILab+ has the ambition to further build competences in the development and deployment of sustainable textile materials, and is therefore also investigating the valorisation potential of local plant residues for textile applications. In the past PWO project SUSTEX, stems of hops, soya and nettles were identified as fibre-rich crops with potential for textile applications. SUSTEX 2.0 aims to better identify the quality of the fibres from those crops, and further investigate their spinability into yarns. Weaving and knitting tests will also be carried out to estimate the ultimate usability of natural yarns based on hops, nettles and soya for high-quality textiles. The project will also pay attention to the recyclability of the fabrics obtained, and will apply innovative pre-treatment methods to achieve recoverable fibres.

Keywords:natural fibres, sustainability, pre-treatments, textile materials, recycling

Disciplines:Textile technology

Project type:Collaboration project