NSF Convergence Accelerator Track I: Sustainable Materials for Global Challenges: Recycled Textile and Apparel Manufacturing Ecosystems (RETAME)

衣服是人类的基本需求，但我们今天的穿衣方式从根本上来说是不可持续的。时装业是全球碳排放和水污染的最大贡献者之一，该行业每年产生超过1亿吨的纺织废料。再生纺织和服装制造生态系统（RETAME）项目将工程、设计和社会科学领域的学术研究人员、行业合作伙伴和非营利组织Goodwill Industries聚集在一起，为纺织和服装行业建立一个可持续的再生材料模型。通过将消费后的时尚垃圾转化为新产品，reame使服装远离垃圾填埋场，从现有的废物流中产生收入，并减少对原始材料的需求。该项目的重点是开发1)新型机械回收技术，2)用回收纤维和纺织品制成的产品原型，以及3)为求职者和学生提供教育和技能培训计划，特别是那些来自弱势群体和弱势群体的人。该项目将产生一个模型回收生态系统，以发展特拉华河谷地区经济，提高我们服装的环境可持续性。团队成员将在每个阶段记录和评估项目，以制定在其他地区实施该模型的最佳实践。reame的首要目标是为纺织和服装行业收集可持续回收材料模型的概念证明，该模型可以在美国和世界各地复制。reame通过利用区域专业知识和当地可用的废物材料来实现这一目标。团队成员均为可持续纺织品设计专家；工程设计;纺织科学;文化人类学;纺织品制造和回收；教育课程的开发与实施；多样性、公平和包容；以及二手服装收集和零售的非盈利管理。项目包括以下方法和途径：1)在废物和回收政策、废物管理、消费者科学和行为经济学、供应链和物流管理、区域经济发展和环境正义等领域招募合作者；2)与Goodwill Industries合作，在特拉华河谷地区设计和测试聚合、分类和机械纺织品回收供应链和生产链；3)将消费后服装废弃物转化为可重复使用纤维的机械回收技术和设备的推进和试点；4)下一代再生纺织复合材料原型的研制；5)分析回收纺织品样品的材料特性，收集相关工艺和产品生命周期影响的初步数据；6)民族志研究和分析团队建设、知识共享和趋同研究策略，为生态系统模型在其他地区的转移和应用提供支持。有必要进行广泛的融合研究，以建立强有力的伙伴关系，为我们自己创造循环、可持续的服装方式。reame通过模拟消费后时尚废物回收和制造系统的发展来引领这一努力，这些系统也支持可持续的区域经济发展。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Clothing is a basic human need, yet the way we clothe ourselves today is fundamentally unsustainable. The fashion industry is one of the largest contributors to global carbon emissions and water contamination, and the industry yields more than 100 million tons of textile waste each year. The Recycled Textile and Apparel Manufacturing Ecosystems (RETAME) project brings together academic researchers from engineering, design, and the social sciences, industry partners, and the non-profit organization, Goodwill Industries, to build a sustainable recycled materials model for the textile and apparel industry. By converting post-consumer fashion waste into new products, RETAME keeps clothing out of landfills, generates revenue from existing waste streams, and reduces the need for virgin materials. The project focuses on the development of 1) novel mechanical recycling technologies, 2) product prototypes made from recycled fibers and textile pieces, and 3) educational and skills training programs for job seekers and students, especially those from underrepresented and disadvantaged groups. The project will yield a model recycling ecosystem to grow the Delaware Valley regional economy and improve the environmental sustainability of our clothing. Team members will document and evaluate the project at every stage to develop best practices for implementing the model in other regions.The overarching goal of RETAME is to gather proof of concept for a sustainable recycled materials model for the textile and apparel industry that can be replicated in regions across the United States and around the world. RETAME accomplishes this goal by leveraging regional expertise and locally available waste materials. Team members are experts in sustainable textile design; engineering design; textile science; cultural anthropology; textile manufacturing and recycling; educational curriculum development and implementation; diversity, equity, and inclusion; and non-profit management of used clothing collection and retail. The project involves the following methods and approaches: 1) the recruitment of collaborators in areas of waste and recycling policy, waste management, consumer science and behavioral economics, supply chain and logistics management, regional economic development, and environmental justice; 2) the design and testing of an aggregation, sorting, and mechanical textile recycling supply and production chain in the Delaware Valley region in partnership with Goodwill Industries; 3) the advancement and piloting of mechanical recycling technology and equipment for converting post-consumer clothing waste into reusable fibers; 4) the development of next-generation recycled textile composite prototypes; 5) analysis of the materials properties of recycled textile samples and the collection of initial data on the life cycle impact of relevant processes and products; and 6) ethnographic research and analysis of team-building, knowledge sharing, and convergence research strategies to yield results that will support the ecosystem model’s transfer and application to other regions. Broad-based convergence research is necessary to build robust partnerships that can generate circular, sustainable ways of clothing ourselves. RETAME leads this effort by modeling the development of post-consumer fashion waste recycling and manufacturing systems that also support sustainable, regional economic development.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.