The North Carolina Textile Innovation and Sustainability Engine (The Textile Engine) and North Carolina State University’s Wilson College of Textiles have received a $350,000 grant from the Walmart Foundation to advance their research.
Researchers will use the funding to conduct Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) for yarns made from some of the industry’s most commonly used new and recycled fibers. LCAs are reports that evaluate the estimated environmental impact of a product, including air pollution, water usage, effluent discharge and energy consumption.
“With this generous gift from the Walmart Foundation, we are able to accelerate Life Cycle Assessment work and expand to include more materials,” says Melissa Sharp, deputy CEO of R&D for The Textile Engine. “There is nothing like this available today for fiber materials, and this initiative will enable true one-to-one comparisons across different yarns.”
The researchers will use their findings to support a larger project—an open-source database featuring information gathered from the LCAs. Currently, open LCA models exist, but few are textile-specific. The open-source database will provide valuable information to those in the textile industry, in particular those who are unable to conduct their own LCAs because of financial barriers.
Leave A Comment