Scaling-up biobased textile recycling for sustainable fashion
- Project lead
- Neil Bruce
- Institute
- University of York
Summary:
The University of York has pioneered an innovative recycling technology that will enable the manufacture of circular fashion. In the UK, 1 million tons of clothes are discarded every year, but less than 1% are recycled into actual clothes. Consumer concerns and the adoption of new regulations have led retailers and manufacturers to look for truly recycled textile fabrics. Currently, 7 million tons of cellulose are extracted from wood to produce textile fibres: viscose, lyocell and NAIA. The global market size is $7 Bn/year. Our group can transform the viscose or cotton fraction of waste textile into new cellulose that can then be transformed into textile fibres. This constitutes a novel recycling technology as the use of a bio-based process sidesteps limitations encountered when using chemical or mechanical textile recycling. Clothes do not have to be decoloured or shredded and the process is efficient at recycling blended fibres e.g. polycotton or viscose/elastane. We can currently produce 500g cellulose per month, which is enough for spinning trials but not enough to produce yarn. We have engaged with fashion brands that are excited by the potential of our process but need to see a swatch of fabric to commit to the concept. To achieve this and improve our TEA and LCA, we need to scale-up to produce enough cellulose to make fabric and demonstrate the textile to textile concept to our customers.
Aims:
We have developed a biobased recycling process that uses wastes to produce virgin-like bacterial cellulose that has many potential commercial applications including renewable biomaterials or sustainable feedstock for textile production. Bacterial cellulose is commercially produced by static fermentation which is efficient but labour intensive. The aim of the project was to investigate submerged fermentation approaches and test the use of bacterial cellulose to strengthen strengthen recycled paper.
Outcomes:
Bacterial cellulose has attracted interest because of its unique properties in term of purity and mechanical properties but also potential applications. It is a sustainable and valuable biomaterial for biomedical and food applications and its use for the biomanufacture of sustainable packaging, composites and textiles. Waste derived bacterial cellulose will improve the sustainability of bacterial cellulose production by using waste instead of virgin resources for its production. Currently, process scalability and testing in new applications are barriers to its expansion.
The outcomes were a better understanding of the conditions necessary for cellulose production in fermenters and the limitations that standard bioreactors present for the production of non-soluble products such as cellulose. Alternative technologies were considered for further scale-up activities that would enable both scalability and high yield. Initial testing of the cellulose with AgriFoodX Ltd to strengthen recycled paper were promising.
Impact: 
The findings from this work will impact future strategies for scaling up fermentation
The project also led to the trial of waste derived bacterial cellulose in paper applications broadening the number of markets that waste derived bacterial cellulose could target.
Academic partners – Neil Bruce and Alexandra Lanot, University of York
Industrial partners – Merryn Chilcott, Bamboo Clothing Ltd and Graham Bonwick, AgrifoodX Limited
