Recycling Wool for Growing Business...Recycling Wool for Growing Business - project The project was...
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Recycling Wool for Growing Business Anneli Auranen Aalto University Master Student in Textile Design Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, Bachelor of Fashion and Clothing
Transcript of Recycling Wool for Growing Business...Recycling Wool for Growing Business - project The project was...
Recycling Wool for GrowingBusiness
Anneli Auranen
Aalto University Master Student in Textile Design
Metropolia University of AppliedSciences, Bachelor of Fashion and Clothing
Recycling Wool for GrowingBusiness - project
The project was coordinated by Metropolia University of Applied Sciences but several companies involved in the wool/textile industry participated in the project.
The projects objectives were to
• Create connections with different wool actors and connect the supply chain for wool recycling in Finland.
• Study fiber properties and chemical residues in recycled wool.
• Research the suitability of recycled wool for a variety of products.
• See what kind of business potential there is in wool recycling.
The mechanical recycling process of wool
Collecting and sorting
• The collecting of old wool textiles was made by Reuse Centre in Helsinki.
• The sorting was made according to color and fiber content.
• The labels in textiles are sometimes missing and they can also be unreliable.
• Part of sorting the textiles is removing buttons and zippers.
• Some material used in the project came from wool textile manufacturers in the form of process waste.
• This waste is excellent material for recycling because it doesn’t need as much sorting and the content of the material is already known.
Shredding the textiles
Opening and mixing the fibers + carding
• The next phase is opening and mixing the fibers.
• Carding straightens the fibers and removes trash and tangles
• Carding produces batts (large, thick sheets of wool), thin sheets or a long strip.
Spinning
• The spinning of recycled wool fibers is the same process as with new wool
• The thinner the yarn, the harder it is to produce from recycled fibers
• It is not possible to make worsted yarn from recycled wool because of its inconsistent quality
Findings on fiber length
• The fiber length of virgin wool is between 25-75mm
• The fiber length of recycled fibers varied between 25-53mm.
• The fiber composition of 80 % recycled wool /20 % virgin wool had the average fiber length of 47mm
Chemicals in post consumer wool
• The amount of formaldehyde was examined.
• The limit of formaldehyde in textiles for children under two years old is 30mg / kg and for adults 100mg / kg.
• The samples examined contained 4-22mg/kg formaldehyde
• Some testing was done to see the concentration of the most common heavy metals such as copper, zinc, nickel and cadmium
• Further testing on chemicals is recommended if making products from post consumer wool.
Final products
Conclusions
• Recycled wool performed well in all production stages.
• The current problem is that there isn’t yet organized collection and sorting for wool waste.
• There is however a project called Telaketju in Finland that organizes textile collecting and sorting by 2023.
• The amounts wool waste in Finland are relatively small so cooperation with other countries could be beneficial for larger scale business.
