Turning unused textiles into recycled yarn
CategoriesSustainable News

Turning unused textiles into recycled yarn

Spotted: The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) says that a lack of ‘system enablers’ is the main challenge in scaling up supply chain transparency in the garment and footwear industries. The lack of those enablers presents a significant market opportunity in this area, as recent research found that 78 per cent of consumers would pay more for products that are produced locally or made from sustainable material. French company Weturn is improving this visibility for full circularity in textile production and use.  

Weturn provides a complete recycling service that makes it possible for brands to offer consumers clear traceability of garments. Weturn tracks a company’s entire inventory, from finished products to production scraps, and builds a recycling process around future fabric needs. Weturn’s team picks up and transports unsold products and then recycles and spins them into new yarns that are used to create recycled raw material (RRM) fabrics. 

It takes two to three months after pick-up of waste materials for a company to receive its recycled fabrics. Weturn’s service includes a full traceability report, and the company works with production partners in Spain, Italy, France, and Portugal to keep transport and other emissions to a minimum. The RRM fabrics are Global Recycled Standard certified, and part of every traceability report includes life cycle assessments covering water consumption, pollution, CO2 and other waste emissions. 

While the complexity of the fashion industry can make it challenging to implement sustainable changes quickly, it also creates opportunity for exciting innovations. Springwise has spotted improvements in the industry’s sustainability in a number of different ways, including a cellulose powder that removes textile dyes from water, and 3D printed footwear that is 100 per cent recyclable.

Written By: Keely Khoury

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Electronic yarn woven into sportswear measures exhaustion levels
CategoriesSustainable News

Electronic yarn woven into sportswear measures exhaustion levels

Spotted: According to a survey conducted by the European Commission, 38 per cent of people exercise or play sport once a week. Of course, exercise is great for physical and mental wellbeing, but pushing ourselves too far during a workout is easy, and this over-exertion can make people more prone to injury. 

This is why researchers at ETH Zurich have developed an electronic yarn that can carefully measure how a person’s body moves. The textile sensor, which is integrated directly into close-fitting sportswear or work clothing, can predict and detect the wearer’s exhaustion levels. 

Video source ETH Zürich

The new sensor reveals when you have reached your physical limits during exercise and when you should take a break by simply glancing at your smartphone. Sensors and electronics can be integrated into clothing thanks to the yarn’s structure, in which the inner fibre is made of conductive, elastic rubber. “These two fibres act as electrodes and create an electric field. Together, they form a capacitor that can hold an electric charge,” says Tyler Cuthbert, a central figure in the research and development of the invention. 

Because this stretchable sensor can be woven into the material fibres of flexible and close-fitting clothing, large-scale production is easier and cheaper. And because the sensor is worn so close to the body, it’s possible to capture bodily movements extremely precisely. 

Right now, the researchers are working on turning their prototype into a market-​ready product. 

Springwise has previously spotted other smart clothing innovations, including one that monitors the wearer’s heartbeat and another that measures a customer’s precise body shape to avoid online clothes returns.

Written By: Georgia King

Reference