With students of Advanced Materials of the Degree in Industrial Design Engineering and the Program of Simultaneous Studies of Elisava, the University School of Design and Engineering of Barcelona, and Girbau Lab, we’ve created Clint, a new versatile and recyclable material made from the textile waste left in the filters of dry machines. Clint is another step towards a new model of circular economy in the industrial laundry that transforms waste into a new material and helps to move towards zero waste.
Clint is manufactured from lint, that is to say, from the recovery of solid textile waste caught directly in the filters of the dryer machines. The innovation of the proposal lies in the origin of the raw material and in the application of paper material with artisan printing for new purposes. Clint recovers the essence of the artisanal processes as it is manufactured with the collaboration of the Molí Paperer de Capellades, from where the paper material necessary for new uses and applications has been produced, and Letter Cotton, a creative printing atelier, in both cases recovering techniques and artisanal processes.
Elisava and Girbau are already studying the possible applications of this new material, which can be numerous. Among other options, Clint could replace the use of plastic materials to make pendrive covers or be used for stationery or packaging. The reuse of lint residue, since now unattended and with an associated cost, will minimize its environmental impact and promote a sustainable washing process.
Towards the circular laundromat: Elisava and Girbau’s commitment to sustainability
Clint goes beyond being a new material, it is a piece of the model of circularity that implies a breakthrough in the laundry activity, since it reduces and re-values textile waste and gives them new applications. Every day Girbau machines wash around 25,000 tons of clothing worldwide and, in the specific case of Catalonia, it is estimated that industrial laundries generate 1,500 kg. waste a week.
Clint is another step towards a change of mindset focused on sustainability and reinforces circularity models that reduce the environmental impact of industrial activities.
Girbau and Elisava stand out for the strong commitment to innovation, sustainability and circularity. Girbau has given Elisava students the opportunity to get up close and personal with the business fabric and work with Girbau Lab’s professed in a real project to develop new materials to reuse laundry waste.
For its part, Elisava promotes with the business and institutional environment to provide added value through innovation and research projects that develop the students. With these agreements students, always tutored by professionals in the sector and by teachers of the School, have the opportunity to work in real business environments, beyond the training offer they receive. On the other hand, the School has Elisava Circular, a commission that aims to reduce the ecological footprint of the School and promote good practices and practices linked to the circular economy.
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