The overall aim of the project is…

…to develop a method that removes undesirable substances (fluorocarbons, melamine and acrylic resins, anti-mold agents) from waste of acrylic fabrics through an environment-friendly process, to enhance their recycling, improve sustainability and reduce environmental and health risks, as stated in Regulation (EC) No 1907/20061.

Therefore, the specific objectives of this proposal, to be reached within its 36 months duration, are:

  • To remove those hazardous substances whose presence could adversely affect the quality of the secondary raw materials and prevent their recycling;
  • To reach a removal rate of 90-95% of those substances;
  • To treat up to 99% of all sewage impurities, obtained from removal steps, for safe utilisation or disposal of these substances;
  • To obtain a final textile product with yarn coming from 100% recycled fibre, mixing regenerated fibres from card, winding opened thread and waste material collected fibre, each up to 33%
  • To re-use the acrylic textiles as raw material for other production cycles, also in combination with virgin fibres, to reach 30 % of waste prevented from disposal (3.600 tonnes total) for the outdoor sector (awnings and furnishing);
  • To produce recommendations on production chain implementation (management and recovery of production scraps) and design and manufacturing of materials to enhance recyclability and recommendation for technology transfer (knowledge transfer to other products and applications) and standards.

This aims to be beneficial and highly impactful for the whole environment and thereby improve the quality of life for all European citizens with overall resonance and high potential on a global scale.

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