Glaukos | Circular solutions for the textile industry

Summary
Glaukos will develop innovative textile fibres and textile coatings that reconcile an excellent environmental performance with adequate technical characteristics. The focus lies on two important contributors to the (micro)plastic pollution in our oceans: fishing gear and clothing. The complete life cycle of these textiles will be redesigned: their sustainability performance (i.e. biodegradability and bio-recyclability) will be enhanced significantly, while their technical performance will be matched to end-user requirements. Glaukos builds upon i) triggerable biodegradability as key concept in polymer design to mitigate textile-based microplastics pollution, and ii) bio-recycling as sustainable end-of-life solution. In addition, the supply chain distance is substantially reduced by scaling up a disruptive way of producing the main polymer building block from several bio-based feedstocks. The underlying objective of Glaukos is to reduce the carbon and the plastic footprint of clothing and fishing gear.

Stakeholder engagement is an integral part of the project: i) Stakeholder Labs will be set up to involve end-users from the clothing and fishing gear industry (e.g. to match technical requirements), ii) consumer awareness will be raised via e.g. influencer marketing, and iii) the fishing gear industry will be supported as regards to Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) on fishing gear litter. New Life Cycle Assessment methods will be developed to better assess the plastic footprint of textile value chains. Finally, integrated methods to assess the biodegradability and ecotoxicity of microplastics in marine environments will be developed and their standardization initiated.

(* Glaukos is the Greek sea god of fishermen. He was commonly believed to protect the oceans, as is the ambition of this project by developing innovative alternatives for textiles that are currently polluting our oceans.)
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More information & hyperlinks
Web resources: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/887711
Start date: 01-06-2020
End date: 31-05-2024
Total budget - Public funding: 5 046 605,00 Euro - 4 185 880,00 Euro
Cordis data

Original description

Glaukos will develop innovative textile fibres and textile coatings that reconcile an excellent environmental performance with adequate technical characteristics. The focus lies on two important contributors to the (micro)plastic pollution in our oceans: fishing gear and clothing. The complete life cycle of these textiles will be redesigned: their sustainability performance (i.e. biodegradability and bio-recyclability) will be enhanced significantly, while their technical performance will be matched to end-user requirements. Glaukos builds upon i) triggerable biodegradability as key concept in polymer design to mitigate textile-based microplastics pollution, and ii) bio-recycling as sustainable end-of-life solution. In addition, the supply chain distance is substantially reduced by scaling up a disruptive way of producing the main polymer building block from several bio-based feedstocks. The underlying objective of Glaukos is to reduce the carbon and the plastic footprint of clothing and fishing gear.

Stakeholder engagement is an integral part of the project: i) Stakeholder Labs will be set up to involve end-users from the clothing and fishing gear industry (e.g. to match technical requirements), ii) consumer awareness will be raised via e.g. influencer marketing, and iii) the fishing gear industry will be supported as regards to Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) on fishing gear litter. New Life Cycle Assessment methods will be developed to better assess the plastic footprint of textile value chains. Finally, integrated methods to assess the biodegradability and ecotoxicity of microplastics in marine environments will be developed and their standardization initiated.

(* Glaukos is the Greek sea god of fishermen. He was commonly believed to protect the oceans, as is the ambition of this project by developing innovative alternatives for textiles that are currently polluting our oceans.)

Status

SIGNED

Call topic

BBI-2019-SO3-R9

Update Date

27-10-2022
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Horizon 2020
H2020-EU.2. INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP
H2020-EU.2.1. INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies
H2020-EU.2.1.4. INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies – Biotechnology
H2020-BBI-JTI-2019
BBI-2019-SO3-R9 Develop bio-based fibres and/or functional molecules to improve the performance of textile products
H2020-EU.3. SOCIETAL CHALLENGES
H2020-EU.3.2. SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine, maritime and inland water research, and the bioeconomy
H2020-EU.3.2.6. Bio-based Industries Joint Technology Initiative (BBI-JTI)
H2020-EU.3.2.6.0. Cross-cutting call topics
H2020-BBI-JTI-2019
BBI-2019-SO3-R9 Develop bio-based fibres and/or functional molecules to improve the performance of textile products