July 2024 Newsletter

Dear subscribers

Welcome to the July Future Fibres Network+ newsletter!

Our funding call is now closed. We received a large number of applications so many thanks for your interest! Details of the call are here.

The second of our new webinar series Fibre Talks takes place in July. See below for more details. If you have any ideas for future webinars, please get in touch: r.hornbuckle@arts.ac.uk.

Don’t forget to get in touch if you have an interesting product, service or innovation that you would like to share with the network in our 'Focus on...' feature below. We are also happy to promote any relevant upcoming events over the next few months.

With warm regards

Tamara

Tamara Galloway is Professor of Ecotoxicology at The University of Exeter

Future Fibres Network+ First Fibre Talk

Professor Kate Goldsworthy presented the first Fibre Talks Webinar on 17 June entitled "Circularity by design". Following Kate’s talk, members of the core FFN+ team participated in a lively discussion about circularity, fibres, their impacts in the environment and why this network is so important for shedding light on best practice. A recording of this will be available on the website soon.

See below for our next event on 15 July.

Royal Society of Chemistry

Our new Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, Dr Ben Parker [seen here at our Future Fibres stand at the Global Systems Institute event at the University of Exeter] was invited to give a talk for the Royal Society of Chemistry in London on 2 July. This is for the meeting "How to deal with the issues of emerging contaminants of concern in the aquatic environment" targeted at industry, NGOs, academia and managers. Ben gave the talk "Freshwater microplastics and their mitigation in an era of global change" which covered his past microplastics work in freshwaters, textile microfibres and impacts as well as introducing the network.

Back to Baselines Second Funding Call Live

Our fellow sub-network Back to Baselines launched their second Sustainable Transition Fund call on 1st July. They are inviting high-quality proposals from businesses, university researchers or other organisations to apply with ideas for targeted projects that will generate new data or fill knowledge gaps to help inform the development of sustainable practices in the fashion and textile sector. More details on how to apply can be found here.

Future Fibres Network+ Sandpit Meeting in Huddersfield

You can register for our next in-person meeting at the University of Huddersfield on Tuesday 3 September. The event's main purpose is for academia to help industry answer challenges whether in production, retail or recycling. You will see a variety of presentations and discussions from companies such as Camira Fabrics. As happened at our Design Museum event, we actively encourage the network's views and participation. For more information or to register for this event click here.

Fibre Talks 02 -Microfibres and the Environment

The second Fibre Talk will be delivered by Professor Richard Thompson from the University of Plymouth at 12:30 on Monday 15 July. Richard will be speaking about his research into the prevalence of microfibres in the ocean and their impacts. For more information or to register contact ffnplus@exeter.ac.uk

Sustainable Fashion and Textiles Forum

Book your tickets for the Sustainable Fashion and Textiles Forum, Tuesday 10 September, The Alverton Hotel, Truro. Bringing together industry stakeholders and University colleagues, the event seeks to identify shared challenges, explore collaborative solutions, and foster partnerships for collective action. Tickets are available here.

To keep up-to-date with Future Fibres Network+ latest events, go to the website, www.futurefibresnetworkplus.com, follow us at @futurefibresnetwork+ or to sign up to our newsletter email us at ffnplus@exeter.ac.uk

Dr Alana James, who leads our fellow sub-network IMPACT+ at Northumbria University, explains why a higher price tag doesn’t always mean better quality and how slow fashion can suit various budgets in an interview with National Geographic.

New paper published

The team at our fellow sub-network IMPACT + with Dr Tom Stanton have released their latest paper: Natural Fibres: Why Are They Still the Missing Thread in the Textile Fibre Pollution Story?

Focus on...Circularity

This month we are talking to the Circular Textiles Foundation: a not-for-profit organisation, working within innovation and design and advocating for the recyclability of clothing and textiles. They bridge the gap between brands and fibre to fibre recyclers, driving the transition to circularity for the UK textiles industry, through bespoke consultancy, training and certification.

They aim to put the theory of a circular economy into practice and work across the supply chain to achieve this with suppliers, brands and recyclers.

Tim Cross, Director at Project Plan B and the Circular Textiles Foundation says “We believe it’s integral we start redesigning clothing to support existing fibre to fibre recycling technologies and those on the horizon. We execute bespoke, high-level, in-person workshops across the country that equip individuals with the necessary tools to do just that. We can’t recycle our way out of this problem, however if we don’t have recycling at the end we’re going to have a bigger problem.”

They are the only UK organisation to offer verification and certification in garment recyclability. The Circular Textiles Foundation Infinitee mark proves to customers that a product is designed to be recycled. It indicates that the design fits the parameters of named fibre to fibre recycling facilities, providing assurance that there is an of an end of life solution for the product and informs recyclers that they can accept it. Alongside the certification mark, the QR code system enables the garment to be scanned. Customers can discover how and where the product can be recycled and recyclers can get an accurate composition to ensure the best reuse value.

“Circular solutions to clothing design are being embedded in clothing companies of all sizes. They need support from organisations such as the CTF who can train and support design teams to create the clothing of tomorrow. This isn't the end of fashion but the beginning of sustainable and circular fashion that looks after the resources we have.”

Click here for more information.

If you are a designer, business owner or academic that has a product, service or innovation that you would like to share with the Future Fibres Network then email ffnplus@exeter.ac.uk.

Follow us on Twitter or LinkedIn to hear about the network's latest events throughout the UK, and how you can apply for funding for multi-disciplinary projects that support the Future Fibres Network themes.

The Future Fibres Network+ newsletter is published monthly.

Email ffnplus@exeter.ac.uk to join our mailing list.

Do you have an event or paper you would to promote? Email the details with any links or images to: ffnplus@exeter.ac.uk by 16 August.

For the latest news, events and to subscribe to our newsletter, go to www.futurefibresnetworkplus.com