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President Macron’s programme at Startup Sauna included student-driven entrepreneurship, research-based companies and research innovations, like Ioncell-F technology.

Professor Herbert Sixta is confident that Ioncell-F process will contribute to solving an important problem related to the textile industry, namely the environmental pollution.

“The textile industry is one of the most polluting sectors”, says Professor Sixta. “The problem is further enhanced by the fast-fashion business model of the major brands, which leads to a reduction in the average life of the garment. Due to a lack of a technically feasible recycling process, the worn textiles pile up and end up in landfills or incineration.”

Ioncell-F process enables the complete recycling of worn textiles, typically on a cotton basis, but also of blends with polyester. In addition, the resulting fibres are better than pure cotton fibres, they are strong, soft and shiny and feel cool in summer and warm in winter.

To demonstrate the recycling concept, students had prepared a scarf made of jeans as a gift for President Macron. After being ground into small particles, worn jeans were dissolved in a new, green solvent and then spun into new fibres. The fibres were spun into yarns and subsequently knitted into a scarf.