Textile Insight

TECH | OCEAN PLASTICS including Burlington, Santanderina, Sofileta, A Sampaio and Lemar are already producing fabrics from Seaqual. "Seaqual is the only PET upcycled from ocean waste that is available to any mill," notes Chtepa. "Our ability to blend opens the door to meet market needs." Seaqual has opened negotiations with more than 150 textile companies, key mills, and brands over the last ten months, according to Chtepa. The company plans to expand its cleanup operations to other countries, and expects to add an Asian partner in 2019. Future goals include upcycling polypropylene and nylon trash into high quality textiles. "Seaqual's final objective is to close the loop. The momentum is growing fast. It's a big wave," he concludes. An Ounce of Prevention Even with the best of intentions, it will take decades to clean plastic out of the oceans; and capturing microfiber pollution is even more difficult. It could be as simple as a product called the Guppyfriend washing bag, developed by a group of German environmentalists, which traps the microfibers released by synthetic fabrics during the wash cycle. Or, home laundry machines could be fitted with filters that would do the job. Textile manufacturers could mitigate fiber shedding by using tighter constructions and yarns with a firmer twist. Prewashing gar- ments (with a filter) during the manufacturing process would also reduce fiber shedding in home laundry. TextileMission, a three-year joint project including Vaude, Adidas, Polartec, and WWF Germany, is working towards the develop- ment of new fabrics and technologies that will reduce microfiber pollution. Making it Biodegradable Ultimately, replacing current plastics with biodegradable polymers could go a long way toward checking the growth of plastic pollution. San Francisco start-up Mango Materials has received several accolades for their biodegradable biopolymer that is said to be economically competitive with petroleum- based polymers. Their microbial process converts naturally-occurring methane gas emissions to poly-hydroxyalkanoate (PHA), which can be used to make synthetic textiles and other plastic products. The product will break down in aerobic and anaerobic conditions such as a wastewater treatment plant or landfill, where it converts back to methane. Another California start-up, Intrinsic Textiles Group, has developed CiCLO, an additive that can be applied to textiles and apparel during manufacturing which will hasten the biodegradation of synthetic fibers in a wastewater treatment plant or marine environment. Intrinsic and spinner Parkdale Mills recently joined forces to form Intrinsic Advanced Materials and bring CiCLO to market. Ultimately, the answer to plastic pollution in our oceans may lie in a combination of the above approaches—or in a radical change in the way we make, consume, and dispose of synthetic products. l The Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Courtesy NBC News Santanderina fabrics made with Seaqual polyester recycled from ocean waste. Together we make textiles perform Hohenstein.us 24 • Textile Insight ~ November/December 2018 textileinsight.com

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