Sustainable textiles

PARTNER ARTICLE | With 15 strong European research institutions and industry partners from eight countries, including world-renowned companies like Adidas and academic partners like Aalto University, the EU Horizon Europe project Cellfil will develop the sustainable production and diversified use of lyocell yarns and textiles made from them.

Bio-based and ecologically produced, lyocell is an environmentally friendly alternative to the synthetic fossil yarns that currently dominate the textile industry.

Textile consumption is a major burden on natural resources, reduces the availability of raw materials and generates greenhouse gasses. The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, insists on the need to promote a circular economy by ensuring that all textiles on the EU market are durable, reparable and recyclable, contain a a large proportion of recycled materials and are free of hazardous substances.

In order to promote the circular economy in Europe and globally, the textile and clothing industry needs to undergo a major transformation, as innovation is needed throughout the production chain, which is currently fragmented and inefficient.

Cellfil (short for Cellulose Lyocell Fibres as a Scalable Solution for Circular Textile Production) aims to promote sustainability and circularity in the textile industry by setting a new standard for green innovation in Europe.

Adidas, Aalto University, ContiTech Deutschland, Filati Miroslaw Kubiak Spolka Komandytowa Akcyjna, Heberlein, Hochschule Niederrhein, Orange Fiber, Riga Technical University, Maglificio Ripa, Martur Sunger, Nordfels, Ratti Luino and Quantis have formed a consortium to implement the projects.

The project is coordinated by the RTDS Association, the leading non-profit organisation in Austria supporting European research and innovation activities, and the technical co-ordinator is the innovative Austrian company Lenzing Group. The project has attracted €6.8mn from the EU’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme.

Lenzing Group, a leader in cellulose fibre textiles, has developed a process for producing lyocell yarns and brought it to market for the first time in small volumes in 2017. However, production and market acceptance are still at an early stage.

By combining decades of experience, knowledge and technology, the consortium partners intend to improve the usability and uptake of the yarns developed. The aim is to transform the value chain of textile manufacturing processes within four years by producing bio-based lyocell yarns from sustainably grown wood, agricultural side streams and recycled cellulose—the most environmentally friendly cellulose yarns currently available on a pre-industrial scale.

The Personal Protective Equipment Laboratory of the Faculty of Civil and Mechanical Engineering of Riga Technical University, and its head, Professor Inga Dāboliņa, are leading one of the work packages of the ambitious project. The aim of this working group is to develop and validate end-use textile products using optimised fabrics containing lyocell yarns with proven increased recyclability.

The work will be carried out in distinctly different market segments: functional clothing, automotive and technical textiles. Under Ms Dāboliņa’s leadership, several sustainable textile prototypes will be developed, their performance and longevity evaluated. A roadmap for the design and development of sustainable products with the same or better performance as their synthetic counterparts, and with consumer-friendly and attractive features, is also planned.

To raise awareness of sustainable textiles among the public, the industry and current and future designers, an international design competition will also be organised involving art and design students from the sector. The competition will use the materials developed and tested in the project.

“We are still at the very early stages of bringing lyocell filament to industrial scale. Many aspects, such as the availability of lyocell yarns in the supply chain and technological adaptations to improve the properties of cellulosic yarns and adapt production processes, need to be addressed to transform the textile industry capabilities that are currently more suited to polyester yarns,” says Markus Pichler, a product and process development expert for lyocell fibres at Lenzing Group and the Cellfil project’s technical co-ordinator.

This article was produced by Labs of Latvia.

To join the Hanseatic network as a content partner, contact Kevin McGwin (kevin@thehanseatic.com)