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Inside Outdoor | WINTER 2021 11 A dozen players in the fashion and textile industries are looking to demonstrate that circular can scale. The con- sortium of brands, manufacturers, suppliers and research institutes are participating in the European Union- funded New Cotton Project with intent to act as an inspiration and steppingstone for further, even big- ger circular initiatives going forward, said the group. The EU has identified a high poten- tial for circularity within its textile indus- try, as well as an urgent need for the development of technologies to produce and design sustainable and circular bio-based materials. According to the group, fashion brands produce nearly twice as many clothes today as they did 20 years ago, and demand is expected to continue growing. Spanning the entire supply chain, the EU’s New Cotton Project – with partners from Finland, Portugal, Swe- den, Germany, The Netherlands, Slove- nia and Turkey – is an effort to pioneer the implementation of a circular operat- ing model for the textile industry. “As this is the first project of its kind, this is also an opportunity to identify and find solutions for potential bottlenecks to scaling up circular tex- tile production and for calculating the environmental impacts over the lifecycle of textiles,” said the group. During a three-year period, textile waste will be collected, sorted and re- generated into cellulose-based textile fibers by Finnish biotechnology group Infinited Fiber, which is leading the consortium. Infinited Fiber’s technol- ogy regenerates cellulose-rich textile waste into fibers that resemble cotton. Manufacturers Inovafil, Tekstina and Kipas will use the regenerated fibers to produce yarns, woven fabrics and denim, respectively, which will be used for clothing that will be designed, manufactured and sold by adidas and companies in the H&M Group. At the end-of-use, apparel take- back programs will collect the clothing to determine the next phase in its life- cycle. Clothing that can no longer be worn will be returned for regeneration into new fibers, still contributing to the circle. adidas is also collecting customer feedback and insights, and developing its textile take-back pro- gram to reintegrate returned apparel back into the loop. A s consumers search for products to help safeguard themselves from pathogens, apparel brands are starting to incorporate specially treated anti- viral and antimicrobial fabrics in their designs. To help address the needs of brands, YKK has developed a line of zippers with tape treated with ViralOff, a technology patented by the Swedish company Polygiene. ViralOff is an antimicrobial finish that eliminates 99 percent of viruses on textiles in about two hours. Its chemical components are eco-sus- tainable and safe for contact on hu- man skin, said the companies. YKK’s ViralOff treated zipper is manufac- tured and sold by YKK Italia SPA. Polygiene’s expertise in protective textile technology got its start during the fight against SARS in 2004. The knowl- edge gained from that experience report- edly gave it the methods and processes needed to quickly develop ViralOff in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. “While we never make any claims be- yond protecting the product itself, it goes without saying that a reduction of viruses on often touched parts, like a zipper, is a good thing.” said Haymo Strubel, com- mercial director at Polygiene. “We see a big demand building.” m Ingredients YKK Unveils ViralOff Zippers Consortium Looks to Make Circular Fashionable Other Consortium Partners and Roles Frankenhuis Sort and pre-process the textile waste used in project South-Eastern Finland Univ. of Applied Sciences (Xamk) Develop solutions for the continuous processing of textile waste fibers for pre-treatment REvolve Waste Collect and manage data on textile waste to estimate feedstock availability in Europe and define the grade of the used textile waste RISE, the research institute of Sweden Assist with sustainability and techno-economic analyses; manage the eco-labelling Fashion for Good Facilitate stakeholder cooperation, conduct training, project communications Aalto University Analysis of ecosystem business models