Institutes launch 'ambitious' global study on textiles decomposition
08/12/2021
Together with Laudes Foundation, Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel (HKRITA), Yale Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering, Metabolic Institute, The OR Foundation, and Celery Design, the Biomimicry Institute will pilot technologies that convert wasted clothes and textiles into biocompatible raw materials.
The multi-year Design for Decomposition initiative will host pilots in Western Europe and Ghana, testing the most viable decomposition technologies that are commercially viable but have yet to scale.
The initiative is a follow-up to the Institute’s The Nature of Fashion report in 2020, which identified decomposition as the missing link for the sector.
The initiative begins with biological research about the various types and circumstances of natural decomposition and then matches those approaches to decomposition technologies to determine which best model nature. In the pilot phase these approaches will be tested in Accra, Ghana, which receives about 15 million used garments each week, and also in a city like Amsterdam or Berlin with more established waste management infrastructure. Simultaneously, researchers will take place at Yale.
Dr Paul Anastas, director of the Centre for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering at Yale, said: “Determining the rate or speed at which molecules degrade in the environment is of crucial importance to assess risks to our own health and health of the environment. While experiments to assess the biodegradation of chemicals when in the environment have been developed and are routinely carried out, these have several limitations that make it hard to predict the fate of chemicals and materials in the ‘real’ environment. Our goal is to close that gap.”
Reflecting on the scale of the problem and the goals of the initiative to address this volume, Edwin Keh (pictured), CEO of HKRITA, said: “It doesn’t get much more ambitious than this.”
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