BETA TC collaborates with Elisava in a project for the manufacture of biodegradable textile filaments

From January, the BETA Technological Centre of the Universitat de Vic – Universitat Central de Catalunya will participate in the BIOCEL 2.0 project with Elisava (UVic-UCC). BIOCEL 2.0 is led by Laura Freixas, researcher at Elisava Research, and is carried out within the framework of her doctoral thesis, currently being developed in the Experimental Sciences and Technology Programme, directed by Javier Peña, CEO of Elisava and Laura Mejias, senior researcher at the Environmental Technologies and Circular Bioeconomy unit of the BETA TC. This proposal is an evolution of the final degree project (0-knit, 2018) that has evolved into an industrial research with BIOCEL, also led by Freixas and which was carried out in collaboration with the Cluster of Advanced Materials, MODACC, Fundación Privada para la Innovación Textil (FITEX), DAN*NA and LCI within the programme Agrupaciones Empresariales Innovadoras (Innovative Business Groupings) of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism.

The BETA TC will work on improving the first stage of the process; perfecting the fermentation systems of the microorganisms that produce the bacterial cellulose, which will then be used for filament production and textile applications. Furthermore, Elisava will optimise the properties of the filament to meet weavability and durability criteria. This is the first project that CT BETA has had with the faculty of design and engineering, and it is hoped that this collaboration can demonstrate that sustainability and design can go hand in hand.

Elisava has been working for some time on the creation of organic materials to make filaments and obtain fabrics, and has already patented this process for obtaining bacterial cellulose filaments. Through a controlled production system, a biodegradable filament is achieved, and an on-demand production service is created. Now, with the collaboration of the BETA TC, they want to establish points of improvement to make production and processing more sustainable.

The textile industry generates serious environmental impacts: it is responsible for 20% of global drinking water pollution, 10% of global carbon emissions, the incineration of 87% of clothing and the release of microplastics into the environment. An urgent paradigm shift in this sector is therefore essential. The European Commission’s Circular Economy strategy, integrated in the Green Deal, already implements measures to reduce the environmental impact of the textile sector and promote its sustainability. For example, it promotes eco-design to make more durable and recyclable products, regulates greenwashing to avoid misleading ecological claims, promotes circular economy models and bans forced labour in textile production, among other measures, with the aim of making the sector more ethical and sustainable.

The collaboration between CT BETA and Elisava represents an important step towards a more sustainable and innovative textile model based on bio-manufacturing as a production paradigm. This project demonstrates that it is possible to move towards environmentally friendly textile production without sacrificing quality and functionality. In a context of global environmental crisis, initiatives such as this one are essential to promote a paradigm shift in an industry with a high environmental impact.