Project
Agrorestex AgroFood residues for Textiles
The project is one hand fed by an interest in Northern France and the Netherlands to expand the hemp/flax industry, and on the other hand to assess the transferability of a study done in South Asia on the potential of agrofood residues for fibre/textile production, especially towards Man Made Cellulosic Fibres. Both bast fibres and cellulosic fibres can potentially contribute to large part to attain fossil-free textiles by 2050. A condition is to develop cultivation and primary processing that feeds in the existing textile industry to produce materials that gain consumer acceptance.
The main objective of this study is to develop a to source fibres from different agricultural (residue) streams to produce textiles. We want to make efficient use of available renewable resources, based on a thorough evaluation of the fibre potential in the Netherlands and NW Europe. After the severe deindustrialisation of the textile sector since 1980, critical mass can only obtained at the level of NW Europe. Northern France and the Netherlands are complementary in knowlegde and in industrial capacities.