In a unique innovation paving the way for sustainable fashion, H&M-backed researchers have developed a technology that processes cotton fabrics that capture greenhouse gases from the air. As part of the pilot project, the crew of the Stockholm restaurant are now wearing aprons made from the same fabric.
The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel (HKRITA) has developed an amine-containing solution that can treat cotton to stretch carbon dioxideE gas towards it and capture it.
HKRITA CEO Edwin Keh told Reuters that his team was inspired by techniques used in the chimneys of coal-fired power plants to limit emissions.
“Many power plants have to clear as much carbon dioxide from the air as they can before the exhaust is released,” Keh told Reuters. “We thought ‘why don’t we try to replicate that chemical process on cotton fiber’.
Keh said that a T-shirt is capable of absorbing about a third of what is absorbed by a tree per day. “The (capturing) potential isn’t huge, but it’s cheap enough and easy enough to produce, and we think there’s a lot of potential applications.”
Keh said the apron in the pilot was manufactured at an H&M supplier in Indonesia, using existing equipment from the factory. “It’s a fairly simple chemical process.”
In pilot the aprons are used after heating to 30–40 °C, the temperature at which they release CO2 – the gas in a greenhouse where plants take in.
The textile industry has a large carbon footprint, and therefore, big fashion brands are now working towards ensuring that shoppers become more aware of the environmental impact of fast fashion as global temperatures rise.
(with inputs from agencies)