Katherine West - Portfolio 

Recycling of fabrics and materials in 'biological' and 'technical' cycles:

Whilst in my role as Research Fellow in Sustainable Clothing at Nottingham Trent University, I attended the Sustainable Futures Research Theme briefing and workshop event and worked with the group of people interested in forming the 'Sustainable Ecosystems' sub group. I met colleagues from the School of Animal, Rural & Environmental Sciences and was able to discuss my ideas for future collaborative projects. Inspiring project ideas that came out of this session were exploring what happened in soil (and in the health of the soil) when a range of synthetic and bio-fabrics were left to biodegrade; and also discussions of what plants and trees could be grown in the UK to supply raw materials for bio-fabrics and how would this impact ecosystems. Could they be grown organically here or would GM seeds be the only option, if so what impacts would this have? What are the ethical questions to consider? What could be grown using alternative agricultural/horticultural methods?

​

Knowing the interests of some of the Clothing Sustainability Research Group, I set down an outline collaborative project proposal, to be developed further to apply for Sustainable Futures 'Seedcorn' research funding. The research would be able to inform textile and clothing/fashion 'design for recyclability' and design for 'circularity' practices and strategies. The topics and research questions I wanted to cover were:

• Explore what is currently possible with textile recycling (and specifically fibre-to-fibre textile recycling) for both synthetic and natural fabrics and what new technologies and possibilities are on the horizon.

• Explore both 'technical cycle' and 'biological cycle' fabrics, looking at single fibres, blends (including poly-cotton blends), fibres with Elastane/Lycra and e-textiles.

• Explore what is currently possible in terms of bio-synthetic fibres and fabrics and how these can be recycled.

• What is really possible through biodegradation and composting, of natural or synthetic fabrics from the 'biological cycle'. What compost substances are produced? Are they safe or are the chemicals, dyes etc. harmful? How long does the process take for different fabrics? How could the resulting compost be made safe or how can it be enhanced to be beneficial?

​

Research Fellow Sustainable Clothing role - inspiration and motivations:

As part of my role of keeping the Clothing Sustainability Research Group up to date, I attended the Symposium and Exhibition at the RCA and learned of the sustainable research happening as part of the Burberry Material Futures Research Group. I was inspired by the developments in computational protein design (of The De Novo Design of High-performance Wearable Continuous Polypeptides Fibres, Imperial College London) and the synthetic protein that can be produced using engineered bacteria and spun into strong, continuous fibres and by a clutch bag (and material samples) of the 'Malai' sustainable textile, made from coconut waste and bacterial cellulose.

​

Another project I worked on was to follow up on a study that had examined clothing that had been donated to the clothing re-use and recycling service TRAID and to suggest ways in which these garments could be improved at the design, testing and production stages. The sample of garments were examined for the reason(s) that they were thrown away, such as colour fading, pilling, worn through fabrics, holes, faulty zips and discolouration of fabrics due to sweat/deodorant damage. Carrying out a review of literature on improving physical durability, I found that nearly all suggestions to improve clothing longevity involved chemical treatments and processes and using hardwearing 'technical cycle' fabrics (or creating blends with 'biological fabrics'). This was another turning point for me towards wanting to research biological solutions that can give durable fabrics and garments, are healthy for the environment & people; and that can be recycled safely.

Garment life cycles and the bigger picture:

​

Through my experiences and research around  making improvements at the material choices, design and production and recycling/disposal stages of garments I started to also think about sustainable and bio-informed or bio-incorporated strategies and materials could also be used at all other stages of the clothing life-cycle. For example:

• retail spaces, environments and display materials/products/methods? Could urban areas have more green areas and bio-designed structures?

• online purchases and their delivery packaging, bio-designed materials? A different service model so that less transportation? 

• could there be bio-designed treatments for clothing laundering and care? What is an 'unfavourable' surface/material for bacterial growth, but that is not harmful in other ways?

• new innovative ways of biodegrading and composting and what theses spaces/structures/buildings will look like, will they have multi-uses and functions, could they be incorporated into retail spaces/shopping centres so that it's more convenient for consumers to take 'old' items there, when buying 'new' items. Could they also be homes to wildlife? ​