BlueYarn: bringing UK based seaweed fibres to the market

Summary

The fashion industry represents an estimated market of ~1.2 trillion GBP and is growing with a CAGR of ~5%. It is also one of the most polluting human activities, representing 10% of carbon emissions. One of the main reasons for this large environmental impact is the location of garment production in countries without appropriate regulation for waste disposal and with low labour costs. Although in recent years the demand for sustainable natural fibres has increased, the source and diversity of these is limited and in many cases the carbon footprint relatively high. Finisterre is a company based in Cornwall that develops innovative products including marine waste regenerated nylon, recycled polyester, and recycled cotton. Finisterre is collaborating with the Centre for Novel Agricultural Products (CNAP) to produce seaweed-based fibres that can be applied in the textile industry. Finisterre has a team of over 50 staff, a global eCom business, and 9 UK stores. Cornish Seaweed Company (CSC) has also been collaborating with CNAP to add value to seaweed biomass. CSC is an award-winning seaweed producer that is exploring the expansion of its products to target markets beyond edible seaweed. The company experiences increasing demand for seaweed derived products as alternatives to food, plastics and feed, but is hampered by a lack in technological ability to biorefine the raw biomass. The BlueYarn team has successfully established protocols for fractionation and for the extraction of alginates to produce sustainable functional fibres from brown seaweed. Our team has also developed protocols for the modulation of the mechanical properties of alginate fibres to expand its application range. However, given that alginate fibres are hydrophilic, their application in textiles is currently limited. This BIV will explore the development of alginate-based stabilised fibres, as well as the development of alginate composite fibres made with other bio-based polymers to develop local UK seaweed derived fibres with textile potential.

This project is currently underway. Aims, objectives and impact will be publicised upon completion.

Academic partner: Leo Gomez, University of York

Industrial partner: Rose Savidge, Finisterre and Tim van Berkel, Cornish Seaweed Company Ltd