Material World: Aware Addresses ‘The Elephant in the Room,’ Birla Teams with Algaeing
Material World is a weekly roundup of innovations and ideas within the materials sector, covering news from emerging biomaterials and alternative leathers to sustainable substitutes and future-proof fibers.
Aware
After two years of research and development, Aware has successfully integrated its tracer into recycled polyester filament yarn.
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“Our vision has always been to maximize traceability to minimize our collective impact,” Feico van der Veen, founder of Aware, said. “This breakthrough represents a significant step toward a more sustainable future, where consumers can make informed choices and brands can genuinely demonstrate their commitment to sustainability, now also for recycled polyester.”
The Dutch clean-tech startup collaborated with a provider of specialized and sustainable material solutions, Avient Corporation Shanghai, as well as Zhejiang Haili Environmental Technology Co., a green manufacturing system solution supplier, to “realize the exchange” of recycled polyester embedded with the Aware tracer—ensuring full traceability from yarn production to final product.
This doesn’t always happen, van der Veen said; 56 percent of green claims made by European fashion brands are unsubstantiated or misleading, according to the Changing Market Foundation.
“Virgin polyester is cheaper than recycled polyester [so] spinners can exchange out the recycled PET for virgin and get it GRS certified,” he continued. “But everybody in the business knows. It’s the elephant in the room.”
In an attempt to eradicate that elephant the traceability solution company offers a digital product passport (DPP) for garments made with this yarn. DPPs are tools for collecting and sharing product data throughout a product’s lifecycle, helping brands prepare for impending sustainability legislation in the European Union (EU) and beyond.
“What’s extremely important is the data in the digital product passport because it’s powered with primary data,” van der Veen said. “Primary data means data directly from the people who make the materials into the products.”
As such, Aware is “fully aligned” with the EU’s forthcoming regulations, including the EU Green Deal. The DPP will equip brands and manufacturers with the tools they need to be prepped and ready for the evolving landscape of sustainability standards.
“By 2026, DPPs will be mandatory for textile goods [and] our technology is already going further than that regulation because it doesn’t say that [the DPP] has to be fiber-forward,” van der Veen said of the European Commission’s Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation. “Our technology is already more advanced than the requirements of the government. When talking about making a claim—it’s all about liability. In that case, it’s perfectly aligned because with our technology and our DPP, you can prove the claims because all of the data points have been checked as its fiber forward, secured on public blockchain—nobody can touch it.”
China-based Zhejiang Haili Environmental Technology and Wujiang Chaodai Textile Co. will be the spinners initially offering the recycled polyester filament with the company’s tracer—which can be detected infield via the Aware hand scanner—with spinners in Bangladesh and India to follow.
XD Connects, a supplier of sustainable business gifts, will implement Aware technology into its recycled polyester goods next year.
Pangaia
Pangaia and Avantium share the common goal of developing fossil-fuel-free and recyclable materials. As such, the two are teaming to create a sustainable apparel collection.
The materials science B Corp. will purchase the Dutch renewable chemistry company’s plant-based and recyclable polymer, polyethylene furanoate (PEF), which can replace PET fibers.
Avantium’s PEF is derived from furan-dicarboxylic acid (FDCA), also referred to as next-generation polyester. The allegedly first-ever commercial FDCA flagship plant is currently under construction in Delfzijl, the Netherlands, with large-scale production anticipated to begin in the second half of 2024.
“Pangaia has a huge emphasis on identifying innovation opportunities that help us replace conventional fossil fuel-based materials with materials that utilize renewable feedstocks. Feedstocks tackle one part of the puzzle, however, and only by producing these at scale and building into circular business models do they really create impact, which Avantium is on a mission to do,” Pangaia Collective said. “By working with Avantium and their PEF material, there’s incredible scaling potential to utilize PEF across a range of product categories, which has led us to this partnership agreement. We look forward to introducing this innovative material once Avantium’s flagship plant is operational.”
PEF claims to fit current polyester infrastructure for both production and recycling, therefore presenting a scalable future for renewable alternatives to fossil-fuel-derived PET. Furthermore, Avantium said PEF-based fiber has a significantly lower carbon footprint than traditional inputs and can be recycled into existing assets.
“We are pleased to partner with Pangaia, a leading innovator in the materials and fashion industry, enabling consumers to wear PEF-based clothing. Together, we will demonstrate that PEF-based clothing has great potential to play a key role in reducing the fashion industry’s impact on the climate,” said Tom van Aken, CEO of Avantium. “We look forward to our continued collaboration with such an innovative brand and to supporting Pangaia’s strong sustainability journey in the coming years. It will be truly exciting to see consumers wearing Pangaia’s PEF-based sustainable fashion in the future.”
Birla Cellulose x Algaeing
Aditya Birla Group’s pulp and fiber business, Birla Cellulose, and Algaeing have joined forces to develop an algae-powered cellulosic fiber.
Powered by the microorganism algae, Algaeing makes biodegradable and renewable thread and dye with a smaller environmental footprint than most natural fibers, according to the Tel Aviv-based startup’s bio in H&M’s Billion Dollar Collection from 2021.
The clean textile innovation company grows algae in a closed-loop system through vertical farming. Relying on solar energy and salty or desalinated water, the process requires 80 percent less water than traditional textile production and doesn’t generate any pollution, the company said. Its algae formulations can be customized and used with existing machinery, enabling faster adoption across the supply chain.
Algaeing has signed an agreement to “develop and introduce a unique, algae-powered cellulosic fiber that is environmentally friendly and offers multiple benefits to the end-user” in partnership with the manmade cellulosic fibers firm in hopes of bringing sustainable, biodegradable and zero-waste solutions to the industry.
“This developmental collaboration with Algaeing aligns well with Birla Cellulose’s focus on offering more sustainable fibers to consumers,” Dr. Aspi Patel, chief technology officer of the Aditya Birla Group and Birla Cellulose, said. “We are keen to develop and scale this innovative new cellulosic fiber in collaboration with Algaeing.”
The duo claims the algae-powered fiber “redefines” the textile manufacturing process by offering a palette of naturally occurring colors using the algae’s “rich and varied hues”—eliminating the need for traditional dyeing methods. The goal is to bring various dyeless garments to the market while reducing the environmental impact associated with those conventional dyeing processes.
Additionally, the fiber can be used for toxin-free production by leaning into the rich nutrients, antioxidants and botanical properties inherent in the algae added to the fiber.
“Our collaboration with Birla Cellulose marks a significant milestone in our joint mission to detoxify the textile industry and promote sustainable innovation,” said Renana Krebs, cofounder and CEO of Algaeing. “Joining hands with a global leader like Birla Cellulose amplifies our impact, allowing us to bring affordable, superior products to consumers and brands into new industries. Together, we are carving a path for a brighter future, where fashion and sustainability seamlessly converge.”
AiDLab
Simple gestures could one day change the color of clothing, per a research term that’s developed a color-changing textile embedded with a small camera utilizing artificial intelligence (AI).
Hong Kong-based Laboratory for Artificial Intelligence in Design (AiDLab) said this technology could help reduce waste by providing people with more color choices in any given garment.
“We wanted to transform conventionally passive textiles into interactive platforms with illumination that can be customized with intuitive gestures,” Jeanne Tann, assistant director of AiDLab and professor at Polytechnic University’s School of Fashion and Textiles, said. “To enable users of all ages, cultures and abilities to engage with their environments and products.”
The fabric itself is knitted with polymeric optical fibers (POFs) and textile-based yarns that can be illuminated in various shades. The POFs act as transmitters of light—therefore, do not carry electricity and are cool to the touch. The POFs are made of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), which is a transparent, synthetic and recyclable thermoplastic also known as plexiglass. The structure of textile enables easy separation of the POFs from yarns for recycling.
AI algorithms help the camera decipher the gestures of the individual user. A thumbs-up results in a deep blue while a heart sign will trigger pink, though the colors can be customized via a downloadable app.
“The system can recognize hand, upper body, lower body and whole-body gestures,” Tan said. “We can program the gestures according to the needs of the user. “For example, we have programmed gestures for ‘OK,’ heart, one, two, five, etc., as we find that these are usually accessible for most users.”
AiDLab’s technology is currently on display in installations in shopping malls in Hong Kong.
“[The technology] is scalable, as it is the first knitted illuminating textile that can be produced an on industrial knitting machine,” Tan said. “In fact, we have recently established a new spinoff company called Geri, through the encouragement of our university, we will start commercializing the textile system in the new year.”
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