aWaRe: Aiming for Water and Waste Reduction, Reuse and Recycling

Abstract

In the context of circular economy, the aWaRe project pretended to develop innovative textile solutions using own recycled fibers that were bio-finished with recycled water from TINTEX dyehouse Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP). The project focused on two R&D approaches, the treatment of water to a degree that allowed its reincorporation on wet processes conducted at TINTEX, as well as the development of knitted fabrics based on the reuse and recycling of production and stock excesses of the company.

The recycling and upcycling of cellulose-based knitted fabrics was performed by mechanical processes through defibrillation, followed by spinning, achieving yarns with a Ne 24 containing an amount of 40% of recycled fibres. Those yarns were knitted, and the resulting knitted fabrics were bio-finished by natural dyeing using only recycled water or used to create a specific colour pallet, thought the planed blend of recycled knitted fabrics without further dyeing. The low colour difference (ΔE < 1) results from the dyeing, when comparing with samples dyed with fresh water demonstrated that the use of recycled water in natural dyeing process had no impact on the resulting colour. The wastewater treatment was accomplished through ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis, enabling for a water quality that allowed a total incorporation of this wastewater at production level.

The solutions explored in aWaRe represents an innovative approach compared to the solutions available in the market: significant advancements in the recycling processes for textile substrates and wastewaters were made, enabling the production of new recycled natural fibres with the required technical characteristics to produce thin yarns and the efficient reuse of wastewater in a closed-loop system.