APEOS, research into innovative processes for the sustainability of recycled textiles in Prato

Title APEOS – Sviluppo di un processo innovAtivo per la sostenibilità del tessile riciclato Pratese in conformità alla Strategia Europea per i prOdotti tessili Sostenibili e circolari

Location Prato, Italia

Duration 2024-2026

Lead partner Comistra srl

Partners FILATI OMEGA S.R.L., L.A.I.P. S.R.L., Fondazione Pin – Polo di Prato Università di Firenze

Progetto Lana SRL

Funding Regione Toscana (Bando PR FESR 2021-2027)

 

 

Context

The Prato textile district stands out for the circular economy practices it has adopted in its production processes and consolidated over the years. Nevertheless, some difficulties remain due to the presence of excessive levels of alkylphenol ethoxylates (or APEOs) in textile products, which have a negative impact on both health and the environment.

Alkylphenol ethoxylates are a group of chemical compounds commonly used as non-ionic surfactants in a variety of consumer and industrial products, including detergents and textile fibre washing products, particularly in the wool sector. The current situation highlights a problematic scenario for the Prato district, as current legislation sets the same limit value for APEO content in both virgin and recycled fabric samples.

These restrictions have highlighted problems for recycled products, as the presence of these substances above the limits set by legislation has been detected in all fabric samples.

The issue of alkylphenol ethoxylates has attracted the attention from governments, regulatory bodies, companies and consumers. Together, they are pushing for a greater awareness and the implementation of measures to reduce the use of these compounds in order to mitigate their negative impacts. It is precisely in this context that the activities planned in the APEOS project come into play.

With the project APEOS, companies in the Prato recycled textile sector intend to seek environmentally compatible and safe alternatives to solve the problem of regulatory limits on APEOs in their production processes.

In particular, the project involves studying the variability of APEO content in samples with different compositions and colours in individual samples of recycled fabric and identifying suitable systems for their degradation. The study will be carried out preliminarily in the laboratory, and then the correct parameters will be defined for the construction of a prototype plant that uses ozone for this purpose. Ozone is a powerful oxidant used in the degradation of APEOs in wastewater and has not yet been used for the treatment of fabrics to assess its effects on such samples.

 

Obiettivo Generale

The APEOS project therefore aims to study the effects of ozone on alkylphenol ethoxylates present in fabric fibres and assess their degradation capacity both on fibres and in wastewater. Thanks to the study, the project aims to develop a prototype system that allows ozone treatment on fabrics in a safe and controlled manner. Finally, the project aims to create a management platform and database for analysing the economic and environmental impacts (on recycling companies) of the textile district.

Three laboratories are involved in the project for the PIN Foundation: MONAMUR, QuMAP and ARCO, with the Research Unit on Circular Innovation and Sustainable Commodities.

 

Cosa abbiamo fatto?

The research group composed of the three laboratories of the PIN Foundation focused on studying the behaviour of APEOs bound to fabric in order to identify suitable systems for their degradation and analyse the economic and environmental impacts (on recycling companies) in the textile district.

PIN will carry out laboratory tests and trials to fine-tune the process parameters for prototyping the fabric treatment plant.

The Circular Innovation and Sustainable Commodities Research Unit has also worked on optimising a platform (database) for the collection and management of companies’ environmental data. It was decided to activate a synergy with platforms already active in the district, such as FLOWTEX, to maximise resources and promote the sharing of good practices.

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