A T-shirt made from recycled CO2
Material transition in the fashion industry
Due to the cool spring and rain, we haven’t had the chance to wear colorful tops, summer shorts, or skirts yet. Let alone buy them. So, there are still many summer outfits in stock. Time for a bargain, you might think? However, it’s better to opt for that old T-shirt in your wardrobe. According to the European Environment Agency, textile purchases in 2020 caused CO2 emissions of approximately 270 kg per person in Europe. Due to the rise of fast fashion, the fashion industry is responsible for about 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. That’s more than the emissions from international flights and maritime shipping combined. The causes include long supply chains, energy-intensive manufacturing processes, and the use of polyester, a synthetic fiber made from petroleum and natural gas. Therefore, the fashion industry urgently needs to find a more sustainable way of production and new innovative materials.
From CO2 to couture: decarbonizing the fashion industry
Are these innovative materials just science fiction in the fashion world? Not at all. Fairbrics, a combination of “fabrics” and “fair,” is a start-up that has developed a revolutionary technology to convert CO2 into molecules which are the building blocks of polyester fibers. A garment looks exactly like a regular T-shirt, but the fibers are literally spun from thin air. CO2 is a byproduct of many industrial processes and is often considered waste. By recycling CO2 and using it as raw material to create new sustainable products, Fairbrics succeeds in valorizing CO2. On the one hand, CO2 is captured and reused, and on the other hand, polyester is no longer made from fossil fuels that emit greenhouse gases, thanks to molecular chemistry. It’s a win-win situation. The green polyester fibers can not only be used in the fashion industry but also in the automotive and packaging sectors to make them more sustainable.
Fashion forward: driving change in the industry
After several years of intensive research in collaboration with H&M’s Circular Innovation Lab, Fairbrics is now facing the challenge of taking its groundbreaking technology out of the lab and scaling it up. Therefore, it’s collaborating with leading partners such as H&M, On-Running, Aigle, and Sweco. Sweco’s engineers and industry experts have recently conducted a feasibility study. The goal is to build a fully operational demo plant at the NextGen site in Antwerp, producing 170 tons of ethylene glycol per year, an intermediate product of polyester pellets. The feasibility study analyses technical details, operational capabilities and the financial viability of the plant. It includes a healthy dose of adaptability, proposing pragmatic solutions, and working in an innovative way allowing us to set new standards for environmentally conscious fashion together.
Robert Mosely, Senior Project Manager Industry: ‘It’s not only enjoyable but also very refreshing to collaborate with a start-up like Fairbrics. Like them, we want to be a frontrunner in sustainable engineering solutions and further enhance our expertise in advanced environmental technologies.’
Robert Mosely, Senior Project Manager Industry: ‘It’s not only enjoyable but also very refreshing to collaborate with a start-up like Fairbrics. Like them, we want to be a frontrunner in sustainable engineering solutions and further enhance our expertise in advanced environmental technologies.’
Sustainable engineering solutions x style
By incorporating innovative materials and groundbreaking technologies, we can pave the way for a more environmentally conscious fashion industry. Together with Fairbrics and our partners, we at Sweco, are committed to drive change in the industry through sustainable engineering solutions: an industry where style and sustainability go hand in hand.
Plants show us the way
Sometimes, it is enough to observe nature attentively and curiously to discover new innovative technologies. The process of converting CO2 into polymers can be compared to photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is a biochemical process in which plants convert water from the soil and CO2 from the air into oxygen and glucose (sugar) using the energy from sunlight. This glucose is then further converted by the plant into, for example, starch or cellulose. In artificial photosynthesis, we use electricity instead of sunlight and captured CO2 from the industry to produce ethylene glycol, a liquid carbon-containing material and a basic element for the production of polyester fibers. The process involves the following steps: First, CO2 is captured and mixed with a catalyst to form the basic ingredients for further processing. Through specific molecular chemical reactions, these ingredients are converted into ethylene glycol, which is then polymerized to form high-quality polyester fibers.
