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，但我们今天穿衣服的方式从根本上说是不可持续的。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1亿吨纺织废物。再生纺织和服装制造生态系统（RETAME）项目汇集了来自工程，设计和社会科学，行业合作伙伴和非营利组织Goodwill Industries的学术研究人员，为纺织和服装行业建立可持续的再生材料模型。通过将消费后的时尚废物转化为新产品，RETAME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）由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，特别是那些代表性不足和弱势群体提供教育和技能培训计划。该项目将产生一个示范回收生态系统，以发展特拉华州山谷地区经济，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该项目，以制定在其他地区实施该模型的最佳实践。RETAME的总体目标是为纺织和服装行业的可持续再生材料模型收集概念证明，该模型可以在美国和世界各地复制。RETAME通过利用区域专业知识和当地可用的废料来实现这一目标。团队成员是可持续纺织品设计的专家;工程设计;纺织科学;文化人类学;纺织品制造和回收;教育课程开发和实施;多样性，公平和包容性;以及二手服装收集和零售的非营利管理。该项目涉及以下方法和途径：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）聚合、排序、和机械纺织品回收供应和生产链在特拉华州谷地区的合作伙伴关系与亲善工业; 3）机械回收技术和设备的发展和试验，将消费后的服装废料转化为可重复使用的纤维; 4）开发下一代再生纺织品复合材料原型; 5）分析回收纺织品样品的材料特性，收集有关工艺和产品生命周期影响的初始数据; 6）民族志研究和分析团队建设、知识共享和融合研究策略，以产生支持生态系统模型向其他地区转移和应用的结果。基础广泛的融合研究是必要的，以建立强大的伙伴关系，可以产生循环，可持续的服装我们自己的方式。RETAME通过模拟消费后时尚废物回收和制造系统的发展来领导这一努力，这些系统也支持可持续的区域经济发展。该奖项反映了NSF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.