Elisava collaborates with CT BETA in BIOCEL 2.0, a project for the manufacturing of biodegradable textile filaments

From January on, the BETA Technology Centre of the Universitat de Vic – Universitat Central de Catalunya will participate in the BIOCEL 2.0 project with Elisava (UVic-UCC). This project is led by Elisava researcher Laura Freixas and is part of her PhD thesis, which is currently being conducted in the Experimental Sciences and Technology Programme, directed by Javier Peña, General Director of Elisava, and Laura Mejias, senior researcher at the Environmental Technologies and Circular Bioeconomy unit of the BETA Technology Centre.

This proposal is an evolution of the final degree project (0-knit, 2018) that has evolved into industrial research with BIOCEL, also led by Freixas, and which was done in collaboration with the Advanced Materials Cluster of Catalonia, MODACC, Private Foundation for Textile Innovation (FITEX), DAN*NA and LCI in the Agrupaciones Empresariales Innovadoras programme of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Tourism.

The CT BETA will be responsible for 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 the filament production and applications in textiles. On the other hand, Elisava will optimize the properties of the filament in order to meet the criteria of wearability and durability. This is the first project that CT BETA has had with the faculty of design and engineering, and we hope that this collaboration can demonstrate that sustainability and design can truly go together.

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 obtained, and an on-demand production service is created. Now, with the collaboration of the CT BETA, we want to establish points of improvement to make production and processing more sustainable.

The textile industry impacts the environment severely: it is responsible for 20% of global drinking water pollution, 20% of global carbon emissions, the incineration of 87% of clothing, and the release of microplastics into the environment. A paradigm shift in this sector is therefore essential and pressing. The European Commission’s Circular Economy strategy, integrated in the Green Pact, already implements measures to reduce the environmental impact of the textile sector and promote its sustainability. For example, it promotes eco-design to make products more durable and recyclable, 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 in the direction of 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.