Objectives 

UPWEARS will contribute to structural resource efficiency and a sustainable economy by unlocking the potential of a new generation of biobased and hybrid fabrics for sustainable e-textile. It will feature high performance, smart functions inspired by nature (e.g., bioluminescence, breathability etc), green and AI-based process alternative, cost-effective multi-functionality. UPWEARS e-textile will also be fully recyclable and have a reduced environmental footprint.

Challenges adressed

Global market demand for sustainable and high-value-added products is putting increasing pressure on the European Union textile industry, which faces major shifts in production practices, product concepts and increasing volume trends. Currently, the textile industry is the world’s third largest polluter, responsible for extensive water and energy consumption, water and soil pollution, waste generation, and representing 10% of global carbon emissions. Thus, the textile industry needs to (i) increase the share of biobased materials, (ii) find innovative solutions to improve the production process, (iii) improve the handling of product end-of-life.

UPWWEARS concept relies on three main technological dimensions to addresses these needs: material, process, and product development – driven by Life Cycle Analysis (LCA), Life Cycle Cost (LCC) and customers/industrial specifications. UPWEARS will propose and demonstrate in real conditions an integrated solution (innovative e-textile and adapted manufacturing process): a smart, functional, protective, and sustainable cross-country biking suit. The e-textile and final product will meet consumers’ expectations as they will be biobased, EU-sourced, sustainable, smart, and traceable.

UPWEARS relies on a multi-disciplinary consortium bringing together 15 partners from 7 countries and covering the technical e-textile value chain, from fibre to prototype manufacturing and testing, including fibre functionalisation, yarn and sensor production and integration, process simulation, AI expertise, additive manufacturing using recyclate textile material.

Project’s pathways towards impact

From a technical point of view, UPWEARS will bring to the market several innovations: 

• Novel biomimetic and bioinspired design for clothing applications 
• Biobased materials from EU suppliers (Flax fibres / hemp fibres/ cork / industrial lignin) 
• Functionalisation process based on fibre/yarn coating to improve fibre performance. 
• AI tools and topology optimisation for production process control and material quality monitoring. 
• Design for disassembling of sustainable e-textile & cross-sectorial interaction towards AM. 
• New pathway technology to replace bleaching stimulating the market of eutectic green solvent. 
• Imbedded electronic with sensing features answering to future consumer needs. 

These innovations will enable UPWEARS to rethink textile manufacturing by following the safe and sustainable design framework. It will lead to an integrated e-textile solution towards a new generation of sustainable and intelligent technical textiles from locally sourced European materials. UPWEARS will also advance the development of modelling and simulation: usability, material modelling, integration into digital workflows. The final idea is to automate 100% of the process control and monitoring through AI and achieve digital twin of textile products.

This project aimed to identify one or several bioplastic materials suitable for development of piezofibres. The materials selection was based on experimental results on (i) piezoelectric response, (ii) processability with respect to melt spinning and coating with conductive graphene and (iii) suitability for use in a few products selected by the end-users in the project.

We found that several commercially available biobased thermoplastic polymers both, show piezoelectric characteristics and can be melt spun to textile fibres.

The healthcare sector is a major consumer of single-use plastic products, a high-quality stream that currently only goes to energy recovery. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that about 85% of the total waste stream from healthcare is ‘non-hazardous’ and therefore potentially suitable for recycling.

The project aimed to identify business models and product designs with the potential to promote separate collection and recycling of plastic and textiles from the healthcare sector.

Practical collection and recycling trials of polypropylene (PP) were carried out. The collection trial took place in selected departments at Lund University Hospital in Region Skåne. By conducting larger collection trials, the project was able to evaluate actual volumes of risk-free plastic as well as quality assessments of the collected and recycled material, and gather information on the actual costs of separate handling of plastic intended for recycling.

In addition to the collection trial, recycling trials of the collected plastic were conducted, including pre-washing. The recycled plastic was evaluated for which products it could be used for, and a container for sharp objects was manufactured. The evaluation of plastic quality from the recycling trial formed the basis for design proposals for improved recycling. This was done in close collaboration with medtech companies and the region.

Some key findings from the project are that the health care personnel is very good at source sorting (>98% correct) but that there is a lack of space in hospitals for source sorting. There is no actor for post-sorting of this type of product. Recyclers are skeptical about plastic from hospitals because of concerns about contamination and incorrect sorting of sharp objects. Plastic volumes from healthcare are relatively small to contribute alone to, for example, chemical recycling; they need to be collected with other streams to become large enough. Plastic from healthcare is interesting because it is regulated and therefore does not contain hazardous additives. The quality of the plastic from the collection showed good properties, as only polypropylene was collected, giving the recycled material had a quality comparable to virgin homo-polypropylene of lower grade. The textiles collected were recycled at lab scale, and more process optimization is needed to achieve good textile quality from the recycled material.

The development of robust data carriers for traceability in textile products requires strong interdisciplinary collaborations. At RISE, we have a broad range of scientific and technical competences, and can offer research and development in:

• textile materials, from fibre development to fabric testing.
• physical data carriers developed for a specific application.
• flexible electronics using substrates such as TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane), paper, bioplastic/plastic films or textiles.
• flexible electronics and sensors designed to withstand wash and wear.
• testing of the resiliance to ageing in different climates, or after laundry.