For some years now, the ecological awareness has also affected the fashion and textile industries. There are many “green fabrics” on the market, although not all of them are completely ecological during their lifecycle. Among the most innovative ones, I have selected some that are particularly relevant for their versatility, resistance and eco-friendly yarn production processes.
In this first article I will discuss specifically about the following fibres:
• Newcell Fiber, a textile fibre derived from recycled cellulose;
• Econyl, an eco-friendly fabric made from recycled nylon;
• Bionic yarn, obtained from recycled plastic bottles.
In the nearest future, i will bring this to your attention:
• Orange Fiber, an environmentally friendly fabric made from orange waste;
• Corn Fiber, derived from a natural polymer with insulating properties;
• Crabyon, an ecological fabric made from shellfish;
• and finally, Lanital, a fabric derived from milk waste.
A particular attention should be paid to the organic Cotton and Wool, recycled Cotton, regenerated Wool and Biosteel, an innovative material for clothing that can be considered a vegan silk. To complete the list, there are also mentioned Lyocell, Pinatex and Wineleather, that we will learn more about them later.
NEWCELL FIBER: recycling the cellulose fibre
It is a pulp resulting from the processing of the fabrics with a high cellulose content. This pulp can be reintroduced into the yarn manufacturing process without undergoing any process involving chemicals addition. Newcell Fiber enables the production of highquality eco-friendly textiles with tensioning resistance in both wet and dry conditions, quick dye absorption and scraping resistance. The strong point of the innovative Newcell Fiber by far the recycling of cellulose-rich fibres into a new sustainable material. The first recycled dress was presented at the fashion festival in Gotland, Sweden, in 2014.
ECONYL: from nylon to nylon
It is an eco-friendly fabric derived from the recycled nylon. The process of regeneration and transformation of this tissue into Econyl, allows the green yarn to be reused for countless times. In the production process the nylon coming from the textiles that are not used anymore, such as: clothes, carpets, nets or even building materials, is separated from other materials, stored, cleaned, shredded and sent to the depolymerisation plant from where it is then sent to production facilities to be transformed into Econylon. The product can be used for textile floor coverings and to produce swimwear and clothing.
BIONIC YARN: an eco-friendly yarn from plastic bottles
It is an eco-friendly and very strong yarn, that is made from recycled plastic wrapped around a polyester fibre. The Bionic Yarn is made from plastic bottles that are collected, melted together and reduced to tiny sized fibres. Then, the fibres are spun together creating the so-called “Yarn-core”, around which it comes wrapped a final protective layer.
This innovative ecological fabric, created by two young New York guys, thanks to the publicity made by many US stars, had quickly developed and was distributed in 3 different types including a soft and refined yarn obtained by combining recycled plastic and synthetic fibres or natural textile fibres, and a yarn derived from completely recycled plastic, heated and spun together. •
By Laura Bravi
Board member Assosecco
Detergo Magazine – Number 12, December 2021
