Technical Absorbents
Techtextil Frankfurt

Free membership

Receive our weekly Newsletter
and set tailored daily news alerts.

Fibres/​Yarns/​Fabrics

RadiciGroup discusses eco-design and end-of-life recycling

RadiciGroup had the opportunity to present its experience in the area of sustainability at the MECSPE trade fair in Parma, Italy, last week.

29th March 2018

Innovation in Textiles
 |  Parma

Sustainable

RadiciGroup and its vertically integrated companies had the opportunity to present their experience in the area of sustainability during the series of meetings, Circular Economy Arena 4.0, at the trade fair MECSPE in Parma, Italy, last week.

On 23 March, during the morning session, Circular Economy: Real Paths to Sustainability, Susanna Caprotti, of RadiciGroup Performance Plastics, and Maria Teresa Betti, RadiciGroup Sustainable Communication, gave a presentation entitled From jackets to automobiles: nylon’s certified path to sustainability.

The objective was to demonstrate how the use of eco-design could reduce the environmental impact of a product – from the production processes and materials used to the end of life, including the potential recycling of the product itself.

Sustainability cases

Two sustainability cases were brought to the attention of the engineers and technical professionals in the audience, who received free T-shirts made of RadiciGroup Radilon nylon. The first case was an experimental pilot project, carried out by all the players in the Group production chain, to recycle wheel trim for reuse in automotive applications, while the second was a 100% nylon vest (fabric, lining, zipper, labels, snaps, etc.) that could be completely recycled at the end of its useful life through extrusion, so as to find a new use in the plastics industry.

As Ms Caprotti and Ms Betti emphasised during their talk, “the challenge is to conceive of and realise single-material components designed for disassembly (and this also goes for garments and other products), which can be recycled simply and quickly after separating the different pieces, without sacrificing performance, style, comfort and consumer needs.”

The objective was to demonstrate how the use of eco-design could reduce the environmental impact of a product. © RadiciGroup

Today, RadiciGroup is able to monitor its entire production process, from polymer chemicals to the manufacture of synthetic fibres and engineering plastics, as well as end-of-life recycling. The materials are used in numerous applications, including automotive, furnishings and apparel, and are manufactured using strictly controlled corporate purchase and production processes in order to limit consumption and emissions.

Recycled carbon fibre

Additionally, in the Circular Economy Arena 4.0, during the session on 22 March dedicated to New Developments in Composite Materials, Erico Spini, Marketing & Application Development Director, Europe, of RadiciGroup Performance Plastics, took the floor to discuss the Group’s experience in the use of recycled carbon fibre in the thermoplastics field.

The goal of his presentation, entitled Recycled carbon fibre for thermoplastics: opportunities and technical problems, was to highlight the potential advantages and technological challenges to overcome in the use of recycled carbon fibre.

“Today, we are not yet producing a recycled carbon fibre-filled polyamide compound,” he said. “But we are working on several promising products combining high performance and a competitive price, with the further benefit of lower environmental impact. Based on preliminary comparative data, we note that 30% recycled carbon fibre-filled polyamide (using recyclate from a well-defined source) has mechanical properties close to those measured for products using virgin carbon fibre. These encouraging initial results have to be confirmed by analysing more production lots and testing recycled carbon fibre of different origins.”

www.radicigroup.com

Latest Reports

Business intelligence for the fibre, textiles and apparel industries: technologies, innovations, markets, investments, trade policy, sourcing, strategy...

Find out more