Key findings from the Renewable Carbon Textile Project
Image by Fashion for Good.
The Problem
Polyester, made from petroleum, claims 52% of the global fibre market. As the most common fibre in the world, it also represents a significant portion of the 73% of textiles that are landfilled or incinerated annually. It does not naturally break down in the environment and the production of virgin fibres also perpetuates our reliance on fossil fuels.
Renewable carbon sources (such as Biomass and CCU-based polymers) are gaining traction in the industry but further research is needed to understand the environmental impact, technical and commercial feasibility as well as policies around end-of-use solutions in different countries.
PHA (Polyhydroxyalkanoates) polymers produced through a bacterial fermentation process using waste feedstocks could offer a renewable solution to replace petrochemical materials but require further development to produce fibres. PHA is an interesting family of polymers as they can biodegrade in the marine environment and compost environments.
The most established applications of PHA include packaging, food service, agriculture and medical products but has to date been a challenge to create high-performing fibres from PHAs as it requires more extensive R&D and testing.
RENEWABLE CARBON TEXTILE PROJECT
The aim of the project was to test and validate the technical feasibility of the different PHA polymer and composite resins to make mono- and multifilament fibres. Fashion for Good worked with the Nonwovens Innovation & Research Institute (NIRI) to run the melt spinning trials to allow for a comparative evaluation.
The project focused on running lab-scale trials using the PHA polymer pellets produced by the participating innovators, Danimer Scientific, IBANNS, Fullcycle Bioplastics, Paques Biomaterials and Aircarbon (formerly Newlight Technologies). The hypothesis was that the trials would be initially run to produce monofilament, moving to multi-filament once monofilament was successfully produced.
The results demonstrated whilst it was possible to make monofilament fibres using a 100% PHA polymer, the innovators ended up blending the PHA with other biopolymers in order to improve the performance. NIRI was able to produce multifilament yarns using some of the innovators’ resins but further technology developments will be necessary to improve the melt drawability (which refers to the ability of a polymer to be made into a filament) of the material and avoid breakages.
The scope of the project shifted as the partners decided to focus on running additional melt
spinning rounds and postpone the degradation testing to focus efforts on further developments of the technical performance of the polymers. Alongside this, during the project, one of the innovators (Fullcycle Bioplastics) went into administration and ceased operations.
Key Findings
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Validated the difficulties of spinning (100%) PHA samples into stable yarns and filaments – It was challenging to make mono or multifilament fibres using 100% PHA resins, as the trials progressed the innovators often blended the PHA with other biopolymers as a result
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Blends improve performance – Blends with other biopolymers might improve the heat sensitivity and the tackiness of the fibres, ultimately improving spinnability.
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Further degradation testing on the final resin will be required – End-of-use testing will be key in assessing whether the final resins (likely a blend of biopolymers) are marine degradable and home compostable
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Additional extensive R&D required for PHA fibre applications – The road for commercial scale-up of PHA fibres will be a long one and significant investment will be needed to further validate fibre applications. More trials and research are needed for brands to decide possible future applications and acceptable blends for PHA, but as it stands it seems like 100% PHA is not looking promising for fibre applications.
CALL TO ACTION: NEXT STEPS
- Action 1: Further investigate the possibility of PHA blends with other biopolymers, what the highest possible amount of PHA could be and how the blends are affecting the end-of-use options for the final filaments
- Action 2: Dig deeper into the spinning possibilities of 100% PHA with specific nucleating agents and various processing parameters and spinning line set-ups
- Action 3: Identify specific use cases where properties of PHA polymers ie: marine degradable and home compostable are particularly impactful and focus development efforts there
KEY STATS
Catalytic Funder: Laudes Foundation
Brands: Bestseller, Norrona, PVH Corp., W.L.Gore
Innovators: FullCycle Bioplastics, IBANNS, Aircarbon (previously Newlight Technologies), Danimer Scientific, Paques Biomaterials
Technology Partner: NIRI
Press Release & Report: Project Launch Press Release
CONTACT: innovations@fashionforgood.com
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